The Tides Go Out
by Regiss
Summary: "Can you feel Ventus?" Four months later, the war between Maleficent's Heartless and Braig's Nobodies threatens to consume all worlds. In the middle of the conflict, Sora, Xion, and their friends continue the search for Riku while also dealing with Vanitas, who will stop at nothing to get Ven's heart. Sequel to Remember the Tides. AU.
1. A Winter to Remember

_Braig wasn't sure what he had just walked into. While Ansem was busy talking with the king from another world, he had snuck off guard duty and traveled down into the secret lab. He knew the others would be down there, conducting experiments that Ansem had banned—but that's why it was hidden, right? While the others may have been doing it out of some scientific curiosity to truly understand the heart, Braig had other motives. He hoped, somehow, that delving into Keyblades and hearts and darkness would get Xehanort's memory back on track. So far it… wasn't quite working out as planned. He was still as amnesiac as ever._

_Well, he had been right about them being downstairs, at least. Xehanort, Even, and Ienzo were in the computer room. What he hadn't expected, though, was the latter two laying face-down on the ground and _fading away_. Braig took two steps back as their bodies became translucent and evaporated. He stared out the window into the large room below, which was now teeming with those weird shadow creatures that Xehanort had discovered. 'Heartless,' he called them._

_And speaking of Xehanort, the man was standing in the corner of the room with his eyes staring off into space. What was up with him?_

"_Hey! Is this how you wanted it?!" Braig snapped, turning away from the window. Xehanort looked over to Even and Ienzo as they continued to fade away. What had he _done _to them? "Xehanort! You wanna fill me in?"_

_Braig began walking toward him, but stopped when Xehanort held out his hand and black lightning crackled around his fingertips. "I am…" A blade flashed to life in his hands and Braig stepped back, his one good eye wide with horror. Silver and black with blue eye designs: that was a Keyblade—the old coot's Keyblade! Then, had it been a success after all?_

_"Hey, do you remember now, or…" Braig trailed off, an idea coming to his mind. It was crazy, but what if… "Wait, did you never lose your memory?!"_

"_That's not my name. I'm not… Xehanort." Oh hell, was it Terra in there? Xehanort charged forward, his Keyblade aimed directly at Braig's chest. So that's what had happened to the others. Braig swerved out of the way and stood behind the silver-haired man, doing everything he could to avoid that sword. In his madness, Xehanort didn't even seem to be aware that he hadn't pierced Braig's heart. "My name… is Ansem."_

_Okay, no, his memory wasn't back. But 'Ansem'? Braig knew that Xehanort had been using Ansem's name in the reports he had been writing, but this seemed beyond that. Could it be that in his desperation to regain his memories, Xehanort had somehow convinced himself that he _was _Ansem the Wise?_

"_Listen, er, Ansem…" Braig stopped as the computer room – the whole castle, in fact – rumbled. In the room far below the Heartless suddenly began to move, crawling along the walls and sneaking through any crack they could to break out of the basement. Smoky black wisps of darkness began rising up from the staircase that led to the dungeons far below. The dungeons and, more importantly, the Keyhole._

_Xehanort began to laugh; it was a slow, insane chuckle. Nearby a Heartless crawled over a machine full of hearts, jabbing its black claws into the tanks. The machine exploded, and soon others followed as more and more Heartless reached for the lights inside. The lab caught ablaze, a raging inferno that Braig knew would spread throughout the entire castle in minutes. And throughout it all Xehanort continued his laughter._

"_What have you done?!" Braig demanded as the room shook once more. Xehanort turned to Braig with wide, insane eyes; in the firelight they looked gold._

"_This world has been connected."_

* * *

_A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory. A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream._

_I want to line the pieces up—yours and mine._

**Remember the Tides II:  
****The Tides Go Out**

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Winter to Remember**

"Argh, Xion, you jerk!"

Xion laughed as half of the screen in front of them exploded. She couldn't help it if she was just that good at Hero's Duty; maybe if they were playing Sugar Rush instead the result would have been different. But then she wouldn't be able to lord her skills over him, and where was the fun in that?

Xion fell back onto the pale yellow sheets – the color of the setting sun – and shoved a playful elbow into the boy next to her. "Not my fault you didn't grab the upgrade, Roxas!"

Her best friend responded by flicking Xion in the forehead. "Next round we're turning those things off." Xion's reply was to shove him off the bed with a giggle. Roxas fell onto the tan carpet head-first. A stray comic that had been lying on the bed as well landed on his face soon after, courtesy of Xion. Roxas climbed up into a sitting position and pulled the comic away while rubbing the back of his head. "Point taken."

"You're just a sore loser," Xion teased. She propped herself up with her right elbow and grinned down at Roxas.

Roxas crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "This coming from the girl who demanded we switch games after I whooped her three times in a row?" Xion gave a silent glare at him and he returned the gesture, and then after a few seconds had passed Roxas cracked a smile and broke into a fit of laughter. "You look so silly trying to be angry!" Xion tossed the pillow at Roxas though she laughed alongside him regardless.

She rolled over onto her back and spread her arms out as she stared up at brown ceiling. "Great way to spend the first day of winter break, huh?"

"The best," Roxas agreed. He stood up and unceremoniously dropped the pillow onto Xion. "I'm gonna go get a snack. Do you want anything?"

"Ice-"

"Don't say ice cream. You finished it off yesterday."

Xion moved the pillow back to its proper spot and mock-pouted. "I'm fine. Just come back soon so I can beat you into the ground again."

Roxas laughed and walked out the door. "Be back soon. Don't mess up my room while I'm gone, alright?"

"I don't think it can get any messier than it is now."

"I like my junk where it is, thank you." Roxas laughed again and turned the corner, heading downstairs into his kitchen. With the only sound the game's music muffled behind the pause screen, Xion sat up on the bed and looked out the window to admire the orange sky. Orange was probably one of her favorite colors, because it reminded her of the sunset; which was good since she was constantly surrounded by it. Orange sky, orange, buildings, orange roads—all varying shades, of course, but Twilight Town could very easily be renamed to 'Orange Town' and she wouldn't bat an eye.

Off in the distance the train station's clock tower rang out its five minute warning bell. Xion checked the clock on Roxas's nearby desk to see that it was now 2:55 in the afternoon. Man, time flies. She had spent the night at Roxas's house to celebrate the first day of their long-awaited winter break. Two weeks off from school was a godsend, especially this year. Xion really needed a break from PE.

Her eyes trailed right of left of the clock, past Roxas's weird star lamp, and up onto the wall near the door. A picture hung on the wall there—it had been taken four months ago, after Dr. Sweet had finally allowed her to leave the hospital. To celebrate the last day of summer their group had taken a trip to the beach; they had put it off for weeks because, as Olette had put it, "It wouldn't be the same without you, right?" That day had probably been one of the happiest in her recent memory, and the picture showed it. She and Roxas smiled brightly in their swimsuits, standing on the golden beach with the deep blue sea behind them. Just looking at the picture was enough to put Xion in a good mood and bring her back to the sound of the tides. A smile crept up to her lips and she brought a hand up to the necklace hanging around her neck: a blue and yellow thalassa shell.

Roxas tapped his knuckles against the open door and Xion's attention moved from the past back to the present. A chocolate bar was hanging in his mouth as he held up his phone.

"What's up?" Xion asked.

Roxas swallowed the last of the chocolate and waved his phone in front of him. "Pence just called. He says they're waiting for us."

Xion tilted her head in confusion. "Waiting?"

"He says Olette's been sending us messages for like an hour now and Hayner's starting to get ticked off."

"Same old Hayner." Xion pulled out her own phone and scrolled through the messages. Yeah, sure enough, she found texts and a few missed calls from Olette. How had she not noticed? Xion frowned at the little speaker icon in the corner; had she forgot to take it off silence after school yesterday? Evidently Roxas had done the same. "Well, we know now. So the Usual Spot?"

"Actually, Pence says they're down at the Tram Common. They're waiting for us outside Kronk's."

Xion's stomach growled. Kronk's was their favorite restaurant, and just mentioning it reminded her that she hadn't eaten since Roxas ordered some pizza late last night. A trip down there would be nice; the Tram Common wasn't that far away. Still, one thing nagged at Xion. "What is it that Olette wants all of us for?"

Roxas just shrugged. Outside, the clock tower's hourly bell echoed across Twilight Town. 3:00, huh? Xion stood up and stretched while Roxas turned off the game. "Well whatever it is, we've kept them waiting long enough. Let's go see them. I'm getting hungry anyway." She walked out the door and down the narrow staircase, with Roxas not far behind. Something seemed to be worrying him—he was oddly quiet.

As Xion kneeled down to put her shoes on, she looked up at her friend. He was giving her worried glances, but looked away when he saw her staring. "Roxas, could you go get the boards?" Xion asked.

"You want to skateboard down there? But Xion-"

Ugh, could they not have this argument right now? "Roxas, please?"

"I'm just worried about your health, Xion."

"I feel _fine_, Roxas." She may have sounded angrier than she actually was. She was just frustrated. This wasn't something she wanted to deal with over vacation. "A ride down to the Tram Common isn't going to kill me." Her face softened. "Besides, if we walk and take even longer Hayner will probably end up killing someone out if impatience."

Roxas laughed at that and opened the front door. "Okay, you've made your point. They're by the curb, right?"

"I think so." Roxas walked outside while Xion went back to tying her shoes. Her lips formed into a thin line and her eyes narrowed as their conversation played back in her head. Since she was very young, Xion had had problems over-exerting herself. As a little kid she'd always have to stop and rest while the others were playing tag, but that wasn't too much. They really started to notice it after she, Roxas, and Hayner had started skateboarding. And then one day in middle school she had collapsed during gym class, only to wake up in the hospital hours later.

That's when she had met Doctor Joshua Sweet. He was a tall, imposing man, but basically a big kid at heart. Dr. Sweet's fast-talking, light-hearted style of speech had calmed her nerves a lot. But even with all his friendliness one thing was clear to her during that first meeting: he had no idea what was wrong with her. Every few months since then she had seen Dr. Sweet for some reason or another; usually it was just getting some temporary medication to help her along, but sometimes things were more serious. Four months ago, on the last day of the school year, she had blacked out and spent three weeks in a coma, meaning she missed most of summer break. And they still had no idea what the cause of her weakness was—she was eating fine, she got a normal amount of exercise, no family history of anything like this… It just happened when she got too active.

Xion stood up at pulled on a black hoodie while Roxas came back with their boards. It hadn't start snowing yet, but there was still that winter chill in the air. "Here," Roxas said while he held out Xion's skateboard: black with blue designs. His own was white with black.

"Thanks," Xion took it but Roxas didn't let go. She stared at him—at the frown on his face. She was glad for his concern, she really was, but she felt fine. She had just seen Dr. Sweet the other day for some new medicine. "Nothing's going to happen, Roxas."

Roxas sighed and pulled his hand away. "Right. Sorry, I'm being paranoid."

Xion put a hand on his shoulder as she walked by. "You're just being a good friend." She put the board down on the ground and rolled it back and forth with her foot. "Come on, any longer and they'll probably start whatever it is without us."

"I'm right behind you."

Twilight Town was built along a mountainside, which meant there were a lot of slopes. This made skating through the town extremely simple, and that meant it was popular. On an average day the streets were filled with kids after school, but right now it seemed most people had decided to stick inside due to the temperature. Xion was fine with that; while she had nothing against heat, the cold never bothered her anyway.

She and Roxas glided down the hills of the city, moving out of the residential district and into downtown. The closest thing Twilight Town had to suburbs was probably Sunset Terrace, but that was a train ride away. Xion and her friends all lived in apartments closer to the center of the city, which meant downtown was only a few minutes away. Xion directed the two of them down an alley and onto Market Street, which was exactly what it sounded like. The Tram Common was at the end, at the bottom of the mountain.

They passed by the back alley that led to the imaginatively-named Usual Spot, their group's normal hangout hidden underneath the train tracks, and continued until they reached a fork in the road. While the path directly in front of them did lead to the Tram Common, if you wanted to get to Kronk's it was actually quicker to take the other road and cut through the Sandlot. Less crowds that way.

When they got to the Sandlot, Roxas came to a sudden halt, looking over at someone at the other end of the lot. Xion followed his gaze and frowned. A group of four stood there, talking amongst themselves. Seifer, the boy in a beanie and a white coat, was the leader of the self-proclaimed 'Disciplinary Committee' of Twilight Town, but personally Xion thought they despite the name they did more harm than good. He and his friends, Fuu and Rai, were basically just bullies.

"Don't cause trouble, Roxas," she warned.

"Hayner's the one who has a problem with them, not me." Roxas looked down at his board and slowly ran it back and forth across the ground. "I'm just worried about Vivi is all."

"Vivi?" Xion hadn't even noticed the little boy who stood with them. They hadn't spoken much, but she really thought he was a nice kid. A little shy, but nice. What was someone like that doing with a jerk like Seifer?

"I suppose it isn't any of our business."

Xion was surprised by Roxas's statement, but she supposed he was right. Vivi was shy, but he was smart. He knew better than to hang out with bullies. There had to be a reason.

But maybe she'd check up on him later, just in case.

"Let's keep going." Xion started riding away again, thankful that the Disciplinary Committee hadn't seen them.

Kronk's wasn't a very notable place, really. It was just a small diner sitting on a street corner by the Tram Common's road to the Sandlot—nothing special. There wasn't any special food, or great deals, or celebrity endorsement. In fact usually it was pretty empty except for a few regular customers. But still it was their group of friend's favorite place to eat, for two reasons: one, while the food wasn't special or flashy it was good. Like, _really_ good. And two, the owner, manager, and chef: Kronk himself.

Xion had first met Kronk through Roxas, when they were still in elementary school. He had been Roxas and Pence's scout troop leader—Xion suppressed a giggle at the memory. Roxas as a scout was so _weird._ But the two boys had insisted to her, Hayner, and Olette that Kronk 'wasn't like the other grown-ups.' And boy were they right; Kronk wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was funny, sweet, and just an all-around nice guy. Over the years he had sort of become an honorary sixth member of their group, and they had learned a lot about him. Apparently he used to be involved in some darker stuff – drug dealings, Xion thought, though Kronk really didn't like to go into it – and now the restaurant and leading the scouts were attempts to straighten his life out. And it didn't hurt that he genuinely enjoyed doing them.

Putting their skateboards by the bike rack outside, Roxas and Xion stepped inside to the homely little diner It was emptier than usual; aside from one or two older couples, the only people there were their three friends sitting in a booth by the window. Olette stood up and waved them over.

"About time, you guys!" Pence said with a grin. He was a bit of a bigger kid, and so was generally with Xion in gym class in lagging behind everyone else. But he was also one of the smartest people she knew, easily able to get the hang of any electronic device he got his hands on. "Hayner was just about ready to leave." Next to him the blond in question huffed. Hayner had some attitude problems, but he was a nice guy at heart. Mostly it was just a performance to look cool. Hayner was also Roxas's best friend, behind Xion that is.

Xion sat down and held up her hands apologetically. "Sorry Olette, our phones were both silenced."

The brunette waved away Xion's apology. She was probably the nicest of all of them, but she could be pretty pushy sometimes—usually when it involved schoolwork or shopping. She was definitely more girly than Xion, but the two of them still got along great. "It's fine, I figured as much."

Pence had a sly grin on his face. "So, what were you two lovebirds doing? I heard you and Xion were together all night, Roxas." Xion felt her face grow hot. She was used to these jokes about the two of them, but they never stopped being uncomfortable.

Roxas's red, wide-eyed face matched what she could only guess hers looked like. "N-Nothing happened! Xion just spent the night, like we all used to do all the time."

"Of course. No way would any girl fall for _Roxas_," Hayner said with a teasing smirk.

"Gee, thanks!"

After their laughter had died down, Olette spoke up again. "Hope you guys don't mind, but we ordered food for you."

"It's fine," Xion said. "What did you get us?"

"Order up!" A deep voice called from the kitchen. Kronk came through the door in an apron and a little paper hat, his muscled arms holding two trays of food. With a big grin he walked over to their table, never missing a beat. "Howdy kids, how ya doin'? What do we got today, let's see…" Kronk spun the first tray in his hand like a wheel, picking up the plates and handing them out as he did so. "First lady and a black cow for Pence, Olette's taking Adam and Eve on a raft, wrecking them with a forty-one, Hayner wanted the groundhog to grunt and some dog soup." The man's mastery of that alien language called 'diner lingo' never ceased to amaze Xion. "Roxas is walking the cow through the garden with the works, and Xion gets Noah's boy on bread. Both of you are drinking fifty-fives." Kronk then reached over to the bar across the aisle and picked up a red basket. "Would you like fries with that?"

After that he returned to the kitchen to work on the other customers' orders, leaving the five of them to their discussion. "So, why are we all here?" Roxas asked.

Hayner crossed his arms and slouched in his seat. "Olette wouldn't tell us either."

"I wanted us all to be together before we started," the girl insisted. "Now that we're all here we can." She pulled out a pen and notebook, earning confused looks from her friends. "Now that we have two weeks off, we need to plan it out."

Xion couldn't hide her smile. Typical Olette, always on top of things. Hayner, though, groaned and slouched further. "That's it? That's why you had us wait so long? Let's just let stuff happen as it happens, Olette."

"I don't want to have everything so chaotic, Hayner. Xion wasn't around for summer break, so this is the first time in a whole year we've had so much time together. We don't want to waste it, do we?"

Hayner just grunted in response.

"I think it sounds fun!" Pence said through a bite of ribs. "So what's first?"

"We _have_ to go see the Christmas fireworks," Olette said, immediately writing it down on the notebook. Her handwriting was the neatest of all of them, it almost looked typed. "And I mean in a high place. Just watching them from my house isn't good enough."

"How about the clock tower?" Xion offered. The others looked at her and she quickly averted her gaze. "Never mind, that's a dumb idea. We probably aren't even allowed up there."

"Actually…" All eyes were on Hayner now. He put his elbows on the table, gesturing as he spoke. "I know a way up to the top. My buddy Zell showed me once. We could totally go watch fireworks at the tower."

Olette frowned. "Sneak in? What if we get caught?"

"The door isn't locked or anything. I just think not many people know about it."

Xion watched Hayner carefully. "What's the deal? Since when did you like fireworks?"

Suddenly strangely quiet, Hayner looked down at his lap. "We can't be together forever…" Xion blinked in genuine surprise at his answer. Had she heard him right? The others were silent too. "So we'd better make the time we do have something to remember."

"Are you sure that's you, Hayner?" Roxas asked.

Hayner's trademarked scowl came back to his face and he looked out the window. "Shut up. Forget it."

Olette giggled at his reaction, but was a bit solemn as she wrote down in her notebook. "So we're going with Xion's suggestion? Christmas fireworks on the clock tower it is."

"What else is there to do?" Xion asked.

The friends spent the next couple of hours sitting at their table and deciding plans for the vacation. Kronk took their plates a half hour into the discussion and returned with desert: five bowls of sea-salt ice cream, as usual. Any other restaurant wouldn't want them to stick around an hour and a half after they were done eating, but Kronk was fine with it. He even tossed out suggestions himself every now and then.

After two hours had passed, Hayner stretched his arms above his head. "We've sure spent a lot of time here, huh?" Pence was sleeping next to him, so Hayner nudged the black-haired boy's shoulder to wake him up. "It's only five. What are you doing taking a nap, man?"

"Sorry," Pence said with a yawn. "So hey, did we decide what the plan is?"

"Sure did!" Xion said with a smile. She looked over at Olette, who picked up the notebook and started reading off her list.

"In the first week: Hayner, Roxas, and Xion wanted to enter that skateboard race a few days from now. We all agreed to go up into the mountains and spend a night at that fancy ski resort. And of course the fireworks."

Roxas looked out the window. The sun was low on the horizon—night came early during winter at Twilight Town. "We should probably head home before it gets night, then it'll be too cold for just our jackets. Anyone have some last minute suggestions for week one?"

Xion leaned back in her seat and tried to think of something. Honestly everything so far was enough for her; she just wanted to spend time with her friends, it didn't really matter what they spent that time doing. "I think I'm good here."

"Same with me," Hayner said. Pence nodded.

Olette stood up and stretched her legs. "Okay, then it sounds good. Hey, are you guys free the day after tomorrow?" They all answered in affirmative. There were no plans for any of them until the race. "Great! Then meet me at the mall, okay? We'll work out times later." She grabbed her coat and waved goodbye to Kronk before heading out.

"I'm gonna head home too," Xion said. "Dodger is probably hungry."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Roxas asked. What kind of question was that? Their apartments were in the same building, so even if they didn't go home together they'd be following the same route anyway. Xion nodded right away; in fact, maybe a little faster than she ought to. That teasing smirk came to Hayner's face again as Roxas stood up.

"See you guys tomorrow," Xion said to Hayner and Pence with a wave. "And have a good evening, Kronk!"

"You kids be careful on the way home." She couldn't see Kronk since he was in the kitchen, but his voice boomed out from behind the walls. "They say freaks in black have been stalking the streets lately."

"We'll be careful," Roxas assured him.

Xion had heard the rumors of the men in black, but didn't really pay much attention to them. Every city had problems with gangs and stuff, right? It was just part of urban life. Still, though, there were minor details about the stories that nagged at her. One rumor says that a man in a black suit wearing a black mask can be found in the woods surrounding Twilight Town, especially in the area around the old abandoned mansion. Others say he watches from the buildings or the alleys. The strange thing was most of those rumors say the man wears black and blue, but as of recently they're saying black and white. Normally Xion would attribute an inconsistency like that to people spreading their own twists on the story, but generally in the past the appearance described had been consistent. It was only just recently when the black and white stories started coming in.

Honestly though, what concerned her more was the apparent connection between those rumors and the old mansion. That mansion had always been one of her favorite places in all of Twilight Town, because it was just so mysterious. No one knew who it belonged to. She and Roxas used to explore it all the time, and she knew all of it inside and out—well, almost all of it. Two rooms on the second floor were locked and she never could get them open. But anyway, ever since the rumors started to grow more and more and sightings started getting reported even in broad daylight, the police had been investigating the mansion nearly daily. They didn't really get a chance to drop by there anymore.

"Xion, are you okay?" Xion blinked and looked over to Roxas, then checked her surroundings. They were at the candy shop already? How had she not noticed how long they had been walking? And yeah, they were walking; while Twilight Town's slopes made skating down great, it didn't work so well for getting back up on a board.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking about the mansion."

Roxas smiled. He loved the mansion almost as much as she did. "You wanna go check it out tomorrow?"

"Aren't the police still keeping it locked off?"

"I don't think so." Roxas shrugged. "Even if they are we can sneak in. They only seem to pay attention to the front gates."

"Then yeah, let's do it." They were in front of the apartment building now and the clock tower rang in the distance. 6:00. Her parents would be getting home soon.

"You wanna come by my place some more?"

Xion shook her head. "Maybe later. Like I said back at Kronk's, Dodger is probably hungry. I need to feed him."

"Don't give him any more sausages," Roxas warned with a smile. "See you, Xion."

"Yeah, see you later." Roxas went inside, but Xion stayed outside and took in deep breaths of the cold air. She wasn't feeling weak or anything; just as she had told Roxas when they left, she felt perfectly fine. Going to and from the Tram Common wasn't enough to exhaust her. But still, the night air was calming. She closed her eyes and imagined that, instead of in the middle of the city she was standing on a beach and embracing the sea breeze.

When Xion opened her eyes again, someone was standing in the road next to a nearby lamppost. Blue eyes scanned the building and he had a frown on his face, as if he was looking for something. He locked eyes with Xion for an instant and took a step forward, with a look on his face like he wanted to ask something. Then he shook his head and turned around, walking away into the shadows of night.

Xion watched him leave with curiosity, and then shivered when she finally noticed the color of his clothing: black.

* * *

_I spent way too much time reading about diner slang. The stuff Kronk was spouting are all real terms._

_No, you didn't click the wrong link—this is indeed the sequel to _Remember the Tides_. For those who haven't read the first one, this story started as a "what-if" scenario where Xion won the final battle in 358/2 Days instead of Roxas. However, our last story ended on Destiny Islands, not Twilight Town. The setting change will be explained eventually, though I'm sure some of you have already figured it out. The story's going to be kind of depressing at first (assuming I can write depressing), but it should level out to our old adventurous tone soon enough._

_Also, cover art by a fellow named Semokan._


	2. Wrapped in Black

**Chapter 2: Wrapped in Black**

Xion took full advantage of her vacation and slept in for hours. It wasn't until eleven or twelve that she finally crawled out of bed and, still in her pajamas - a loose grey shirt and black sweats -, walked out into the living room of her apartment. Her parents had both gone to work around eight—usually she'd see them in the morning, but it was a common occurrence to miss them completely during vacations.

Xion moved into the kitchen and picked up a bowl from the floor. Her body was working on autopilot as she poured some fresh dog food into it; her mind was focused on that stranger last night. He wore black, which made her think of the rumors, but there was no mask. Still, though, the masked man was only the most prominent; other sightings of different black figures had been reported before. Maybe he was another of them. And if he was, what was he doing hanging around outside her building? Xion bit her lip as she set the bowl back down on the ground. She hoped no one who lived here was in any trouble with the men in black.

"Dodger!"

The brown and white dog came strolling into the kitchen at Xion's call. He was always so calm, even when the atmosphere around him was dark. But then, why should he worry? Dodger had a loving family—not just Xion, but all her friends too. They had found him a year ago wandering the streets and Xion, always having a soft spot for dogs, had convinced the group to take him in. Dodger had lived in the Usual Spot for a while, but eventually their parents had found out. Roxas's quick thinking had convinced Xion's parents to let Dodger into their house, and she was always grateful to him for it.

Dodger happily ate the food and Xion stood up to get something for herself. It wasn't anything special, just a quick sandwich. As she leaned against the counter and ate, Xion's thoughts kept going back to the guy in black. She tried to recall his appearance, what he was wearing besides the fact that it was black, but for some reason her mind wouldn't focus. Whenever she tried picking up the details of his outfit she'd instead end up thinking about the lamppost he stood next to, or the orange road under his feet. For some reason Xion's memory was actively resisting showing her the boy.

Something Xion remembered clearly, though, was his blue eyes. Blue eyes weren't unusual around Twilight Town, really; she and Roxas had them too, and that was just a start. But something about the stranger's stood out to her. They were eerily familiar, and that instant he had locked sight with her he looked… so sad… Had they met somewhere before? Since she still couldn't focus on anything about him except the black and blue, couldn't even picture his face, she wasn't sure.

Ringing interrupted Xion's thoughts. She jumped a little in surprise at the noise, since everything had been so quiet, but calmed down when she recognized it as simply a ringtone. Xion turned back down the hall and returned to her room, where her phone was sitting on the nightstand. Roxas was calling.

"Hello?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She could hear the ringing sound of a trolley's bells behind Roxas's voice.

Xion stifled a yawn. "No, I've been up for a few minutes. What's up? Are you at the Tram Common?"

"Yeah. Just been doing some shopping, since Christmas is in a week." He paused for a moment and Xion thought the call had dropped before he continued. "Are you coming down soon?"

"Uh, sure. I can meet you down there. Why?"

"We planned on checking out the old mansion, didn't we?"

Xion's tired eyes snapped open. "Oh! Yesterday, yeah, we did. Sorry I slept in Roxas, I'll be right over. Just give me maybe twenty minutes to walk down."

"Don't worry about making me wait, I'm busy looking for something for, uh- for Hayner. No rush."

"Okay, see you soon." Xion dropped the phone onto her bed and pulled her clothes out of the nearby dresser. White tank top, black bag at her hip and strapped across her chest, charm bracelet, hair clip, black and white rings on two of her fingers—she and Roxas had both gotten matching pairs of them as kids. Normally she wore a skirt and leggings with this outfit, but given the temperature outside she put on a pair of pale blue pants instead. Before leaving, Xion stared at the jacket hanging in her closet – a white one with a black hood and pink designs on the front – but decided against wearing it. The jacket was sleeveless, so it wouldn't be much help. She had a heavier coat by the front door anyway.

Xion pocketed her phone and turned to the door before stopping. "Oh, almost forgot." She turned back around and returned to the dresser. Her blue and yellow thalassa shell was resting on top; it was her most precious treasure, a present that Roxas had given her after her first experience with her chronic weakness. Xion smiled fondly at the memory of Roxas barging into the hospital room with the homemade necklace, taking Dr. Sweet completely by surprise and embracing Xion into a deep hug all in one quick motion. She had worn it every day since then.

Xion slid the necklace around her neck and flipped the light switch, heading back out into the front room. Her black coat was hanging on a hook by the front door, same as it always did. Xion pulled it on and zipped it up, then debated getting a scarf too. "Nah, it's not that cold yet."

"Be good while I'm gone, Dodger," Xion said. The dog in question was sleeping on the floor with his front paws crossed under his neck. She could almost swear he had a smug grin on his face. Xion smiled as she closed the door behind her. It would be nice to be like a dog and not have a care in the world, wouldn't it?

Xion looked up at the number above the door as she made her way out of the building. Her family lived in apartment fourteen, but the four had fallen off years ago. "The imaginary apartment" Roxas had called it once, after they learned about the imaginary number in math class. Xion thought that was kind of clever.

Down the thin staircase and out the front door, into the cold noon wins of a winter in Twilight Town. There still wasn't any snow though the forecast said that wouldn't be too much longer. A storm had come close last night, but apparently it only got the forest. Go figure.

Xion took the same path down to the Tram Common that she had yesterday, only this time walking allowed her to take in more details than she ever could while flying by on a skateboard. For instance, the alley between her street and Market Street was dark with the overhanging roofs of nearby buildings casting it into a shadow. Old posters for the Struggle finals or a Powerline concert hung on the brick walls.

As she emerged onto Market Street Xion saw that it was much more active than yesterday. People were moving up and down the slopes, stopping by shops for all manner of things. Someone was performing near the bottom, knocking a ball up into the air as a crowd watched on. One of the people in the crowd looked over at Xion and grinned.

"Hey, how are you today?" Pence asked.

"Good. I was going to meet Roxas; we're exploring the mansion today."

"Again? Man, you guys know that place inside-out."

"Well, not all of it," Xion said with a smile. "Besides, it's your fault that place interests me so much. You and those wild rumors of yours."

Pence laughed. "I guess you got me there. Have you heard the latest one?"

"Masked guy dressed in black and white, right? Or have the stories gone back to black and blue?"

Pence shook his head. "No, they're still saying white. But that's not the rumor I mean."

Xion tilted her head. "There's a newer one?"

"Yeah. People today are talking about some guy about our age who's been hanging around outside apartment buildings at night." All humor was gone from Xion as Pence spoke. "No one knows what he wants, but he doesn't have a mask like the other stories."

"Did they ever mention his eyes?" Xion asked softly.

"Huh? Uh, no, I don't think they have." Pence frowned. "Why? Did you see someone in black?"

She honestly wasn't sure what she had seen since her memory still wouldn't focus on the boy. "…I have to go. Roxas is waiting for me." She turned on her heel and headed down the hill to the Tram Common.

Pence called out after her. "Wait, Xion! I have to know more!"

Xion waved over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Pence. Olette wants us at the mall, right?"

She left him to watch the grandstander show after that. The boy disturbed her and she had wanted to just say she had dreamed that whole experience, but obviously that wasn't the case of there were rumors going around. And Pence wasn't just making stuff up—he could always be trusted to pass any creepy stories along to them, and so even if they weren't true he wasn't the one to invent them.

Xion shook her head to chase the thoughts away. Today was supposed to be a happy day, not a brooding day. It had been way too long since she and Roxas had been to the mansion. Pence was right that they knew the mansion inside-out though. Hey, maybe today one of the two rooms on the second floor would actually be open. She could pretend to hope for that, right?

There was Roxas, leaning against the town's outer wall and wearing a brown coat. Xion's face lit up when he waved at her and she quickly sprinted the rest of the way over to him.

"Hey, be careful!" Roxas admonished her.

Xion sighed. "Five seconds of sprinting isn't going to wear me out. I'm not _that_ weak." She did have to stop for a second and catch her breath, but she wasn't leaning over with her hands on her knees or anything.

Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. I know I'm annoying you about it."

Xion held a hand up to silence him. "I was just thinking about how today's going to be a happy day. You don't need to apologize, but we're not bringing it up again. Okay?" She gave what she hoped was a stern look, but it just made Roxas break into a laughing fit. "Hey, I'm serious!"

"I know you are, sorry. It's like I said yesterday, though: you look silly when you try to look angry." Xion shoved his shoulder but laughed alongside him. But when the laughter died down she frowned, something was off about this.

"Hey, where are your bags? Weren't you shopping?"

"Oh, I just… I couldn't find the right thing, that's all." Roxas said, averting his gaze.

"I'm pretty sure Hayner would be fine with just a new Struggle bat or something," Xion said flatly. That guy _loved_ the sport.

"Hayner?" Roxas stared at her blankly. "Oh! Yeah, he probably would be. Hayner'd like a new bat. That makes sense."

Why was he acting so weird? "So… do you wanna go buy it now, or…?"

"No, I'll do it later. Come on." He pointed behind him at the large crack in the wall that led out into the forest. Just like no one knew who the mansion had belonged to, no one knew how the crack had been formed. Xion always thought it was weird that the city had never repaired it, but maybe it wasn't a big priority. This near to town there weren't any dangerous animals.

The forest never failed to creep Xion out, though. It was thick as soon as you passed through the crack. This was because Twilight Town had been built not at the edge of the trees, but in a section of woods that had been cleared away. It was nestled in the forest and surrounded on all sides except the beach. But the dense trees meant very little light got through, so it was always dark in here. Despite the assurance from everyone that no bears or wolves ever came near Twilight Town, she was still never completely comfortable until they reached the clearing with the old mansion.

Two chipmunks ran across the branches over their heads, arguing in their chittery language about an acorn the bigger one held. As Xion and Roxas continued to march over twigs and fallen leaves, more and more snow began to appear. It started with a thin layer of frost, then evolved into thicker and bigger piles until they were in a world of white, with snow on all the tree branches and coating the ground in white. Still, it wasn't especially deep and they could walk without trouble despite not wearing shoes designed for the snow.

"This must be from last night's storm," Roxas said. "I wish it had hit town."

Xion looked to her right as they continued walking, where a little brown fawn was struggling across a frozen lake. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's too bad we didn't get any last year. But there will be plenty of snow up in the mountains."

"Oh yeah, we're going to the ski resort in a few days!" Roxas grinned. "I can't wait to try snowboarding." He slowed to a stop, staring at a spot with some particularly deep snow. "Hey, Xion. You wanna build a snowman?"

Snowmen, huh? Wow, she hadn't built one of those in _years_. Xion loved the suggestion, honestly, but there was a bit of a problem with it. "Sorry Roxas, no gloves. I don't want to freeze my fingers off."

Roxas stared down at his hands and flexed his fingers. "Oh, heh. Well, we have all winter to make one. How about once we're up in the mountains?"

"It's a promise."

They finally broke from the shaded woods and into the sunlight of the mansion. Its courtyard and ruined arches and walls were just as snowy as the forest behind them, which in Xion's opinion made it even more mysterious. And there were indeed no police there today, which made things easier for them.

Now, the average person's first instinct would be to go up to the metal gate and test it out. But Roxas and Xion had both been here enough times to know that the gate never opened. The big keyhole on its front was rusted or something, so it just didn't work. Whenever the police were investigating it they would go around back, but that involved navigating some bushes that just weren't worth the trouble. Instead, Roxas walked up to the brick wall surrounding the mansion and pulled away at some of the snow-covered vines. There was a hole in the wall behind them, one that the two of them had made themselves years ago to get inside. It was tall enough for a full-grown man to pass through if he crouched down, which meant they had no problem at all.

Inside the courtyard Xion looked up at the left second floor window. Behind those white curtains was the room that had taunted Xion her whole life: one of the two locked rooms she had never been able to open. A gnawing curiosity ate at her every time she saw those curtains that moved even when the window was shut and so there couldn't have been a breeze. She _had_ to find out what was in there, just for the sake of learning.

"Xion, you coming?" Roxas was at the front door and holding it open.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry!" Xion hurried over to him and kicked her feet against the walls to shake the snow off. The inside of the mansion was as lifeless as ever, with broken display glass crunching beneath their feet and the only light being what came in through the windows. Xion loved the ruined state the inside of the mansion was in, because just like the question of who owned it all the debris scattered around just added to the mysterious atmosphere.

"Where to first?" Roxas asked. "I mean, I don't think anything has really changed, huh?"

"Well maybe the police have been taking things, or maybe they uncovered something new." Xion made her way up the creaking brown staircase. "Maybe they opened those two locked doors."

"Two?"

"Uh, yeah?" When Xion reached the top of the stairs she turned right. "You know, like the door right… here?" She was facing nothing but a brown wooden wall. "What?"

Roxas walked up behind her. "Xion, there's never been any door here. The only room on the second floor is that one behind the white curtains."

"I could have sworn…" Xion leaned against the railing and stared at the blank wall in complete confusion. She wasn't imagining it, right? There had been a door here before. She had never found a way to open it. Right? Yet… as she looked back, Xion found that in all of her memories the door was blurry while the rest of the mansion was crystal clear. She couldn't quite picture it. Maybe she had just made it up.

"It has been a while since we've been here," Roxas said with a hand on her shoulder. "You're probably so eager to find something new that you wanted to make more mysteries up."

Xion nodded slowly. "I guess… Yeah, that has to be it."

"Can't say I blame you, this place is still fun to explore but it's kind of lost its splendor." Roxas turned Xion away from the wall and held an arm out to the door on the far end of the mansion. "But he, let's try this one."

"We don't have the key, Roxas." Despite her protests though, Xion was walking over to the door. She actually beat Roxas there.

"Not a problem. Hayner loaned me this." Roxas reached into his coat pocket and held up something thin and made of metal.

Xion's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why does Hayner have a lockpick?"

"I think it's better not to ask."

While Roxas kneeled in front of the keyhole and got to work trying to open the door, Xion leaned against the railing and looked out over the lobby downstairs. As the clouds up in the sky passed over the sun the light and shadows in the mansion danced, constantly chasing each other across the floor. Roxas's inexperienced lockpicking skills made the music for the dance.

Xion frowned. There was another noise behind the clicking of metal on metal. A soft _tap, tap, tap_… It sounded like it was coming from downstairs, or maybe in the back courtyard.

_Click._

"I think I got it!" Roxas exclaimed happily, turning Xion's attention away from the other noise. He wrapped his fingers around the rusty doorknob and turned. For a second Xion thought the old knob would fall apart and forever ruin their chances of getting inside that room. She'd probably just knock the door down herself if that happened. But no, the doorknob turned normally and the door swung open with a creak.

The room beyond it was so white that for a second Xion thought she had gone back out into the snow. But no, the walls were just painted white in contrast to the dusty red-brown of the entire rest of the mansion. And speaking of dust, Xion didn't see _any_; it was all as sparkling as the day it had been built. But that wasn't the weirdest part.

No, the weirdest part was how _empty_ the room was. Except for the curtains – which moved without a breeze as always – there was absolutely nothing in this white room. No furniture, no marks on the walls from nails or something, heck, there wasn't even a closet. It was just an empty white box.

"Weird place," Roxas commented. "Isn't this supposed to be a ghost girl's room or something?"

"Yeah…" Xion stared out the large window. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw someone in a black and blue suit move, but when she looked closer nothing was there. Her eyes trailed back to the walls. "Where are all the drawings?" As soon as the words left her mouth Xion frowned. Where had _that_ come from?

"The what?" Roxas asked, mirroring her own confusion.

"I… I'm not sure."

"First the door now drawings? Are you feeling okay, Xion?" He placed a hand on her forehead to check for a fever.

"Maybe I should go take a nap or something." Xion moved back toward the door. "Sorry Roxas, this was supposed to be a fun day and I'm ruining it."

"No, it's fine." Roxas sighed despite his reassurance, though. "Hey, do you hear something?"

Xion looked over to the stairs. That hollow tapping was back, and it was louder. In fact… it sounded like footsteps. Who was in here? Was it the masked man from the rumors?!

"Hey, who's in here?" Roxas and Xion both froze at the unfamiliar man calling to them. But though his voice was stern, it didn't really sound mean. "This is Officer Cecil Harvey of the Twilight Town PD. If you come down quietly, I won't hurt you."

Xion and Roxas stared at each other with wide eyes. The police?! He must have arrived after the two of them. "No way am I getting in trouble. Let's just do what he says," Xion whispered. Roxas nodded in silently agreement. The two of them moved forward slowly, walking down the creaking stairs step-by-step. When Officer Harvey saw them his eyes widened and then his face softened.

"You're just a couple of kids? I was worried I'd have to deal with the thugs in black." He brushed some of his shoulder-length white hair out of his eyes and stepped forward. Xion watched his hand carefully as he slipped a gun into its holster. Had he been ready to shoot if they were someone else?

"Wait, so are those more than just rumors?" Roxas asked.

Officer Harvey frowned. "Maybe I said a little too much. What are you kids doing here?"

"Exploring, though we were on our way out anyway," Roxas said. "But… I thought you guys had quit keeping an eye on this place?"

"Look, don't ask any questions, alright? If you two head home right now I won't report any of this. You won't be in trouble." Xion let out a sigh of relief. She really didn't want to deal with any of that. "Although…" He looked out the window, and Xion again thought she saw the figure in black move. "Let me take you back to the Tran Common at least, just to be safe."

"Can I get some answers?" Roxas asked. "Are the rumors about the men in black true or not?"

"…I honestly don't know." Both Xion and Roxas were struck silent by Officer Harvey's response. "Please hurry. I don't want to find out while there are kids to protect."

"Roxas, come on." Xion tugged on his arm and the two of them followed Officer Harvey out the front door and into the snow. It was eerily quiet as they moved through the dark forest, with the only sound the snow crunching beneath them. There weren't any chittering chipmunks or sliding deer this time. As she stared into the darkness around them, Xion could swear she saw neon blue lights for a second. But the light flickered and faded away, and Xion wondered if she had just imagined it like the door from earlier.

No one spoke up as they continued walking. Xion wanted to break the uncomfortable silence, so she took a deep breath and looked up at their escort. "Say, Officer Harvey…"

"Please, call me Cecil."

"Okay, um, Cecil." At least he was friendly. "What do you think about the difference between the black and blue versus black and white rumors? I don't mean any police reports, but you specifically."

"Well…" Cecil frowned. "The truth is department hasn't actually discovered too much, and most of the officers think it's all just baseless. But me personally? I honestly don't know if it's true or not, just like I said back at the mansion."

"Oh…"

"But you didn't ask me that, did you?" Cecil chuckled. "Differences between blue and white? Well, I can tell you that the reports of the man dressed in black and white come from all over town, while the man dressed in black and blue are restricted to the forest, mansion, and every now and then the clock tower."

"So you think it's really two different people?" Roxas asked.

Cecil shrugged. "If there's any truth at all, then probably."

"What about the one without a mask?" Xion asked.

"The one outside apartment buildings? I only started hearing those reports this morning so I don't know much. What I can tell you, though, is that no one seems to be able to remember his appearance." So it wasn't just her? Cecil smiled at them. "I have this friend, Rydia, who is all into occult stuff. She thinks maybe the blue-eyed stranger came from some other world and doesn't belong here, so our minds are trying to get rid of him because he's 'wrong.'"

"Sounds like a bit of a stretch to me," Roxas said.

"That's what I thought, too. But maybe I'll believe it if it happens to me, huh?"

Xion stopped paying attention to their discussion. Someone from another world, and so your memory tries to get rid of them because they don't belong? It sounded preposterous. But it would explain why she just _could not_ focus on his appearance. Xion was so caught up in her brooding that she didn't pay attention where she was going and ended up bonking her head on the wall separating Twilight Town and the woods.

"Ow…" she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"You okay?" Roxas asked.

"I think I need a nap."

Roxas smiled gently. "Yeah, we already decided that." He turned back to Cecil. "Uh, thanks for walking us back, sir. We'll leave you to do your police-things, I guess."

Cecil tipped his hat and turned back the way they had come to return to the mansion. "Once our investigation's done you're free to explore it again. I can't promise when that will be, though."

"Okay, thanks." When Cecil vanished into the trees, Roxas turned back to Xion. "Do you want me to walk you home? You look like you could collapse at any minute."

"I'm fine. I'll be fine. You go buy that Struggle bat for Hayner's Christmas present."

"Right, Hayner's bat..."

Xion waved goodbye and turned around, but stopped when she felt his hand on her shoulder. Roxas looked like he was going to ask her something. "What is it?"

"…Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right, at the mall. I'll be there." They waved again and Xion made her way over to the slope of Market Street. It had only been an hour or so, so the streets hadn't cleared. She passed by Pence, still watching the grandstander show, and dismissed him with a mumbled "Sorry, I'm tired." As she climbed she felt more and more lightheaded, until she had to rest and slumped against the wall of that shaded alley with the old Powerline and Struggle posters.

"What is wrong with me today?" she muttered.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Xion froze up at the voice. She didn't recognize it, but she recognized the tone. Seifer had used it plenty of times before. It was the tone of someone who wanted something and knew he had the power to get it. She turned around and her eyes widened at the face speaking those words—or rather, the lack of the face. He wore a black helmet. Xion's eyes wandered down to take in the rest of his outfit: it looked like muscle, colored black with a white design on his chest and hands. And was he wearing a skirt?

With a strong hand suddenly around her neck, Xion was slammed hard into the wall. "Is a little girl wandering out all on her own? You should know better than to do that." Never mind the skirt. He was real, not a rumor, and that's what mattered. Xion flung a fist out at his neck, but his other hand caught it and held her arm up. He released her neck, held both arms above her head, and pinned her to the wall by her wrists.

"What do you want from me? Munny? I can pay."

"You have something very special inside you, kid. Hand it over." He held her wrists together with just one hand, moving the other one down and unzipping Xion's coat. After that he held his hand to her side and ran it up and down along her body.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Xion screeched. She was breathing heavily, screaming and thrashing to get away from him.

"Don't bother." He slammed his helmet against her forehead, which in turn knocked the back of her head against the wall again. Xion was certain she was bleeding. "No one can hear you. I made sure of that." As his hands continued to move all over her, he leaned in close and whispered, "Can you feel Ventus?"

Xion didn't know who that was and she didn't care. She was too busy shivering in disgust at the creep's touch. He slowly moved a hand over her chest and, through her dazed and blurry eyesight, Xion thought she saw black lightning sparking at his fingertips. That had to be the head injury. Or her fear. She was going to go with fear.

This couldn't be happening.

"Get off of me!" Xion shouted again as his hands gripped at her. She flailed her legs and kicked him hard in his left shin. The masked boy flinched ever so slightly in the pain, but it was enough for his grip on her wrists to break. Xion took the opportunity and ran. She ran faster than she ever had before.

"You bitch! Do you really think you can escape me?!"

His voice was distant, but not because of how far she had gotten physically. Xion's vision was fading, even going black every second, and her chest felt tight. It was getting hard to breathe.

Damn, she had forgotten to take Dr. Sweet's medicine this morning, hadn't she?

_Not here… Not… now…_

The last thing Xion saw was the paved road rushing toward her.

* * *

_I… ahem. *cough*_

_So… Vanitas is a sadistic monster and I wanted to make that perfectly clear right from the start. It's not just that his heart is pure darkness but he's also an Unversed now, born from his utter hatred for Ventus. There's no case of a misunderstood villain with him; Vanitas is getting __**zero**__ sympathy points and in a few more chapters' time you'll see just what lines he's willing to cross._

_And just to be clear, it's not the line you're probably thinking of given how this chapter ended. Really, I promise. I wouldn't take things that far._

_Anyway, if you're new to _Remember the Tides_, Xion's outfit is based on the one seen on the cover of the last fic, only modified for winter weather. It's a wonderful design by Shiroi-Kamaitachi._


	3. The Distance of Dreams

**Chapter 3: The Distance of Dreams**

"You're a sadistic creep, you know that? Though I'm one to talk, I guess." Braig was leaning back in a chair with his legs crossed and his hands behind his head. The usual cocky grin was plastered on his face and directed at Vanitas as he walked into the room.

"I just wanted to get her heart racing," Vanitas replied. He walked over to the other end of the room, his footsteps leaving hollow echoes on the tile floor. "So, I noticed you got rid of the lab in the mansion."

"Oh, did it work?" Braig had no idea what he was doing, to be honest. His attempt to remove Naminé's drawings and keep Xion from remembering through those had ended up erasing the entire room. "Yeah, her little pal has found us, so I decided to take away as many exits as possible."

"Do you want me to deal with him?"

Braig waved his hand dismissively and swiveled his chair around to face the blue screens. "Nah. We got a security system that doesn't even know it's on our side." He uncrossed his legs and leaned in closer, watching the black and blue figure on the screen. "Dealing with intruders is his job, right? So we'll just leave cleanup duty to him."

**x-x-x**

_I've been having these weird thoughts lately…_

_Like is any of this for real, or not?_

_Xion squinted, though it didn't really do much to help since dust and sand kept flying through the air. He was already hard enough to make out against the dirt and brown stone, and this sandstorm was only making things worse. But as she got closer his figure came more into view. His armor, gold and red, was rusted and ruined from all the battles of the last few weeks. The current weather certainly wasn't helping either, as dirt and wind were constantly staining and wearing away at it. But with cape flapping in the wind and massive brown sword over his shoulder, Xion wondered how she hadn't been able to find him right away. _

_He looked over his shoulder—not at Xion, but at the next one to approach. It was a woman a few years older than Xion, that much was evident by the way the armor was built. Like the man's own armor, it was rusted and cracked. But Xion knew it had once been a vibrant blue and silver. Xion also knew her own armor didn't fare much better._

_The first turned to look at Xion next as she approached from the third path. It was a weird sensation, because while she wanted to reach them she did not know why. While she was walking toward them her legs were moving on her own at the same time. It was like she was an observer trapped in her own body._

_The man stepped forward and the three of them met in the crossroads where three swords had been thrust into the ground. The man drew the silver blade with a golden hand guard, and next to him the woman drew the golden blade with a silver hand guard. Xion wrapped her fingers around a black and white checkered hilt, a black guard protecting it. The blade itself was white. As the three armored knights drew their weapons the storm suddenly ended. Though she didn't turn her head to look, Xion was keenly aware that they were surrounded by hundreds more of those strange swords and they even formed the four roads the trio had walked down._

_As for the fourth road…_

_The wind picked up again, though the dust didn't travel with it this time. From the fourth and final road came a hunched figure, his long black coat blowing in the wind as their capes did. His body flickered and a smoky doppelganger appeared at his side, but the doppelganger quickly changed shape into a masked boy dressed in black and red. As they moved forward a voice echoed in the air around them._

"_Behold… These lifeless keys to be full of power—united with the hearts of their masters." The voice sounded like it should be coming from the old man, but his lips weren't changing from the smirk on his face. "On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat… as a great Keyblade War raged!"_

_The two stopped some yards away from the three of them and the voice continued._

"_Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me…"_

_The old man extended his arm forward, pointing a white gloved finger directly at Xion._

**x-x-x**

Xion bolted awake with a gasp and sat up. Panting heavily, she brought a hand up and ran it through her wet hair. Wet? Xion pulled the hand away and looked at her palm; it was covered in sweat. As her breathing slowed down to a more normal pace, she took in her surroundings.

"I'm… back home?" Sure enough, she was. The blue sheets on her bed, the black nightstand, the picture of her and Roxas at the beach four months ago. Xion was in her room. So… had it only been a dream? It didn't feel like one, but if it was real then why was she back here?

Xion ran a hand over her face and then rubbed her temples. It was then she realized no light was coming from outside and she was in complete darkness. What time was it? She turned right to pick her phone up off the nightstand. The soft light from that little screen illuminated her room for a few seconds as Xion stared at the clock. 4:30 in the morning. With a sound halfway between a sigh and a grumble, Xion put the phone back, rested her head on the pillow, and curled up into a ball. Yesterday's attack played over and over again in her mind. What the hell was going on?

"_Can you feel Ventus?"_

That whisper echoed clearly in her mind. Who or what was Ventus? The person who had assaulted her yesterday – or in the dream, if it _was_ a dream – looked just like the boy with the old man. Were they the same? But why would she dream about him in red? None of the rumors had said black and red armor.

And just who was he anyway? As far as Xion knew none of the rumors had ever said anything about the stranger in black getting close to the townsfolk—certainly she'd have heard if someone was nearly _raped_ by him. But… Xion bit her lip. Had that been it? He seemed too focused on something else besides _that_. As she closed her eyes she envisioned the black lightning that had danced at his fingertips. It was too clear; it couldn't have been her fear playing tricks on her. Could it? And what he had said:

"_You have something very special inside you, kid. Hand it over."_

"Ugh…" Xion loved mysteries, her fascination with the mansion was proof enough of that, but not when they involved _her_. She just wanted to go to sleep, go to the mall tomorrow, and then spend the next week and a half of winter vacation with her friends. No masked creeps, no vanishing doors, and no blue-eyed boys outside the apartment building.

Xion's eyes snapped open at that last thought and she sat up again. In the back of her mind she knew she was being paranoid, but still she got up on her knees and stared out the window. The road below was completely empty this early in the morning and under the moonlight the ever-present orange appeared brown. Xion stared intently at the lamppost that the boy had been at two nights ago. No, he wasn't there. She let out a breath she hadn't even known she had been holding.

But before Xion could lie back down, something did catch her eye. At the other end of the street, from completely the other direction than where she had been looking, was a figure walking up the road. He didn't seem comfortable and was constantly looking over his shoulder, which just made Xion all the more suspicious. It was strange enough that he was out so early, but what was he looking for—or trying to avoid? He stopped in the middle of the road and looked up at Xion's apartment… at _her_. When his blue eyes met her own Xion grew dizzy and suddenly fell backwards. She tumbled off the bed and hit her head on the carpeted floor.

The dizziness passed a moment later and Xion opened her eyes, but something was off. The light of day was coming in through the window. "How long was I out…?" She climbed up to her feet and grabbed her phone once again, looking for the clock. 9:00. "I was sleeping on the floor for four and a half hours?" Xion rubbed her face. "Or maybe I never woke up at all?" This whole thing felt like some far-off memory, like a scattered dream. Xion nodded. It made the most sense. The masked attacker, waking up at four in the morning, seeing the blue-eyed boy… It all had to just be a dream. She had been hearing so much about the rumors lately her mind had wandered.

That had to be it.

Xion was about to put the phone back down when she noticed a little envelope icon in the corner. A message? It was from Olette:

"_Don't forget we're going to the mall today! Meet up 10!"_

Right, that was today. The mall was half an hour away on foot, so if Olette wanted them there in an hour then she would have to get going soon. She could skate, but honestly Xion still wasn't feel her best and didn't want to risk it. Climbing up to her feet and started getting dressed. She couldn't just leave without taking Dr. Sweet's medicine like yesterday, either. Xion figured that was probably what made her so dizzy at the mansion yesterday. "Dodger needs his food refilled and I need some breakfast, too," she said to herself as she pulled her shirt on.

Pocketing her phone and taking the thalassa necklace on the way out, Xion made her way over to the kitchen. Dodger's bowl was filled and she left a treat in it as well to keep him busy. Xion's own breakfast was just some toast, and while that was cooking she pulled out the bottle of white pills that Dr. Sweet had given her. Since no one knew what exactly was wrong with her they were just a temporary state. Honestly she sometimes wondered if it was just a placebo effect.

The toast popped up and Xion grabbed it on her way out, picking up her black coat and leaving the apartment. The mall could be reached from a side road near the top of Market Street, closer to the train station than the Tram Common, but Xion found that she didn't want to take the usual route through the alley to Market Street. She had convinced herself that it was all a bad dream, but still that shadowy place made her shiver. So instead she continued down the main road, which still led to Market Street but was a longer path. But she should still make it on time.

"Well, we meet again!" Xion stopped mid-step and looked to her right, where a man dressed in blue and white was smiling at her. A woman in green was next to him. "You are the girl from yesterday, aren't you?"

Xion blinked. Yesterday…? Oh! It was his shoulder-length white hair that jogged her memory. "Officer Harvey? I didn't recognize you without the police uniform."

He smiled. "Please, I told you to call me Cecil." Then Cecil turned to his friend and said "She's one of the kids I was telling you about, Rydia—the ones who were in the mansion. This is… Sorry, I don't think I ever got your name?"

"It's Xion." She turned to the woman in green. Her hair was green as well, though more of an aqua shade. "Are you the friend Cecil was talking about? The one into the occult?"

Rydia grinned widely. "That's me. I'm making Cecil show me all the places the boy no one can picture has appeared. See if I can find any clues!"

Cecil's exasperation was plain on his face despite attempts to hide it. "It was supposed to be my day off today, too."

Rydia laughed. "Say Xion, would you like to join us?"

The boy 'no one can picture'—the blue-eyed boy. Part of Xion wanted to figure things out, but another part remembered what she had decided back when she had woken up while it was still dark out. No mysteries, no strangers in black, just a day hanging out with her friends. So she shook her head and answered with "Sorry, but I'm going to Sunset Terrace with my friends. But it was nice meeting you."

"Sure was." Rydia said with a nod. Then she pulled on Cecil's arm to get him to continue down the street. "I hope we meet again, Xion!"

"Yeah, me too." She did. With Rydia and Cecil behind her, Xion continued down the road and did eventually come to Market Street. She turned uphill, passing by the road up to the train station, and continued on until the dense buildings started to clear out more. The area the mall was located used to be a larger Sandlot, but it had been taken over when they were all still kids and the mall was built over it. Xion checked her phone; she was right on time, and everyone but Hayner was there at the front entrance.

Olette waved Xion over to them. "Glad you made it! Roxas told us you weren't feeling well yesterday."

Xion glanced over at Roxas, who was giving her a concerned look. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah." It wasn't a lie. Xion was confused, but certainly not in a state like yesterday. "Where's Hayner?"

"Fashionably late as usual," Pence said. "Last we heard he thought we were supposed to meet at the Usual Spot. He hasn't called us since then though." Pence laughed. "He's probably stopping by the candy shop for an ice cream."

"Winter or not, that's just like Hayner."

"You're one to talk, Xion," Roxas said with a playful smirk.

"Guilty." She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes before continuing. "So, are we waiting for him?"

Olette nodded. "I'll give him five minutes longer, but after that I'm going inside." She hugged herself and bounced on her heels. "Even without snow it's getting a little too cold for me."

Xion felt Roxas's gaze on her and turned to see him eyeing her up and down. "Xion looks the warmest out of all of us."

"I do?" Xion held up an arm to investigate the sleeves of her black coat. "I mean, I guess it is kind of nice, but…" Roxas reached behind her and pulled up to hood of the coat, tugging it over Xion's face. "Um?"

"Just helping you warm up." His voice had a warm chuckle behind it, like he was trying not to laugh. Xion didn't say anything back, looking at the black fabric of the hood now just inside her field of vision. She almost felt trapped wearing the hood up like this. Weird, she had never been claustrophobic.

"Hey Xion, you okay?" Olette's question made Xion realize she hadn't said anything. They probably all thought she was offended or something, not that there was much to get offended about. Xion smiled and pulled the hood down.

"Thanks Roxas, but I'm plenty warm already. Like you said, hottest out of all of us." The instant those words left her lips Xion realized the innocent mistake she had made. Olette and Pence were smiling at each other knowingly.

Roxas's face matched Xion's. "T-That's not the word I-"

"But you were probably thinking it!" Pence teased. Xion groaned. Any chance these guys had they'd take, huh? But the subject was dropped quickly enough, as it always was. Xion leaned against the wall with Pence while Roxas shifted uncomfortably and Olette continued to try and warm herself up.

"Is he here yet?" Xion mumbled. The cold was making her sleepy.

Olette shook her head and looked out into the lot. "Still no sign. I'm about ready to just leave him behind." She turned around and the automatic doors slid open, but before she could walk inside Hayner's voice finally called out from across the lot.

"Sorry! Sorry, I know I'm late!" He was running over to them with his skateboard tucked under his arm. "I ran into Seifer's gang on the way up here."

"Seifer?" Everyone was immediately concerned, since Seifer and Hayner pretty much despised one another. But Hayner didn't seem hurt; he had no bruises or anything.

"Yeah. He was asking if I had seen Vivi anywhere. Thought we kidnapped him or something, can you believe that?"

"Vivi's missing?" Olette asked with concern in her voice. Xion felt the same, and her first instinct was that the black and white creep had gotten a hold of the little boy. But she shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. That was a dream. It was a dream and he was not real.

"I doubt it." Hayner crossed his arms. "Vivi probably just doesn't want to hang out with them anymore. I really can't blame him." That was a good point… "Anyway, let's worry about it later. Today's supposed to be a fun day with the five of us. Come on, let's all head inside!"

Hayner shoved Pence and Olette into the doors, the latter of whom looked conflicted between her concern for Vivi and her desire to warm up. Roxas silently followed him but Xion grabbed his wrist. He looked over his shoulder at her as the doors closed. Hayner, Pence, and Olette didn't seem to notice that they hadn't joined them yet.

"What is it, Xion?"

Xion sighed. How to put this… "Roxas, are you okay?"

"Huh? I'm fine, Xion."

"You've been acting weird this morning, shifting around awkwardly while we've been here. And last night you looked like you were going to ask me something? What's up?"

"I'm fine," Roxas insisted. He chuckled softly. "This is getting weird. Since when do you ever worry about me?"

"What do you mean 'weird'?" Xion narrowed her eyes. What exactly was he saying about her? Was this some kind of stealth insult?

"Usually, I do all the worrying over you. I don't think it's ever been the other way around before. Just feels strange, that's all."

Xion's face softened. Oh, that's all he meant... Well, he certainly did worry about her a lot. But it was mutual, even if he didn't realize it. "Roxas, of course I worry about you. I'm worrying all the time. You're my best friend and I don't want you hurt."

"Did we switch positions all of a sudden?" Roxas took in a deep breath and rubbed his face. "Xion, everything's fine. Don't worry about it. Trust me, if something was wrong, you'd be the first person I told. Got it memorized?"

Xion froze up completely. What did he just- Why did that phrase disturb her so much? "What?" Her voice was extremely quiet and she knew it.

Roxas frowned. "Now you've got _me_ worrying. I said if there's anything wrong-"

"No, no. I heard that part. It just… Never mind. Come on, I can see Olette motioning for us to hurry up." She walked past him and through the automatic doors, but Roxas lingered for a moment longer. She turned around to find him watching her again, and Xion felt a frown tug at her lips. Something was definitely bothering him, but she supposed she couldn't chastise him for keeping secrets when she wouldn't talk about her own concerns. "You coming?"

"Huh? Yeah."

Once the two of them joined up with the rest of their friends at a fountain nearby, Olette grabbed Xion and pulled her over to her. Oh great, she knew that spark in her eye—Olette had entered 'shopper mode.' Xion's wallet was doomed.

"You three go have fun at the game shop or whatever. Xion and I are going shopping at real stores."

Roxas held up a hand. "Wait. We spend all this time gathering together, even wait longer for Hayner, just so we can split up?"

Olette put her hands on her hips. "Well how are we all supposed to go Christmas shopping if you guys see what your presents are?"

"Wait, that's what this is about?" Xion tried to break out of Olette's vice-like grip. How was one girl so strong? "Olette, I don't think-"

"We have, what, five or six more days?" Olette pulled Xion further away. She looked back to the boys, but they both knew there was no stopping Olette. "So I hope you have munny, Xion. We're going." Goodbye, allowance. It was nice knowing you.

"We'll meet you back here in two hours, I guess." Hayner sighed and scratched his head. "Come on, you guys. I have absolutely no idea what Olette would even want. Pencils?" His voice faded as Xion and Olette continued to travel down the polished halls.

Twilight Town's mall was basically four long corridors arranged in a cross shape. The brown floors and walls were polished to the point that you could practically eat off of them, and Xion's reflection was crystal clear. Instead of watching Olette in front of her she was actually watching through the reflection in the walls.

They walked back a jewelry shop while Olette was talking about something or other, but Xion wasn't paying attention and stopped at the window. A pendant sitting on the display had caught her attention: it was silver, with a blue stone embedded in it and a ukulele painted on the stone.

She heard Olette walking up behind her. "Xion, are you coming? Hey, what are you looking at?"

"Huh? Oh, just this ukulele charm." Xion turned around, facing her friend. "Sorry, let's go."

Olette looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "What ukulele charm?"

"Huh? This one, right-" Xion turned back to the window, but Olette was right. There was nothing like what she had just seen there. The closest thing was a simple chain necklace in its place. "What?"

"You're stalling," Olette said with a giggle. "Come on, let's go." She took Xion's hand and led her to the intersection in the middle of the mall, but Xion was still focused on what she could have sworn was there.

_What in the world is wrong with me lately?_

"So, what do you think they'll like?"

"Huh?" Oh, right. Presents. "Uh, well Roxas said he was getting Hayner a Struggle bat."

Olette tilted her head. "He did? But when he got here this morning he was asking about y- Never mind. What are you thinking of?"

That was a good question. Xion felt bad that it wasn't something she had really been thinking about. "Well maybe Pence would like a new camera, though I don't think I could afford that. As for Hayner… I don't know, a coupon to the ice cream store?"

Olette laughed, even if Xion thought it was a pretty lame joke. "Uh huh. And Roxas?"

"U-Um… I'm not really sure…"

"Well that's why I'm here with you. Come on, let's do some brainstorming. A camera sounds great for Pence, but for Hayner and Roxas-"

"Xion!" Someone was calling her name. Was that Roxas? He sounded hopeful, and there was urgency in his voice. What was wrong?

"What is it, Ro-" Xion's breath caught in her throat. No, it wasn't Roxas calling for her. The boy running up to her was completely unfamiliar, dressed in black, yellow, and red with brown spiky hair. But she did know those eyes. They were the eyes outside of her apartment building.

"Xion, I finally found you!" The stranger grabbed her hands in his own. "We've been looking for you for months! Chip and Dale finally found a way in. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you the other night, but I had to be sure it was really you, and-"

Xion pulled her hand a way and held it up to silence him. Her other hand was clutching the side of her head. "Wait, please. Slow down." She took a careful step backwards. "Who are you?"

The boy's eyes widened and his hands fell to his side, where they hung lifelessly. "What? Come on, Xion. We're friends!"

"I-I'm sorry, I think you've got the wrong girl." It was the only thing that made sense, though at the same time it didn't. If he had the wrong person then he wouldn't know her name.

"What?" The boy's eyes began to water and he looked down at the floor. "I… Sorry. I'll leave you alone" He turned around and started walking away with his hands in his pockets. Part of Xion wanted to call after him, to ask him to come back, but another part just wanted to avoid him. "I could have sworn… I need to talk to the King about this…"

"What was that all about…?"

"Huh?" Oh, Olette was still here.

"What do you mean 'huh'? That guy who was just here. He knew my name!"

Olette stared at Xion. "Guy? There was no guy, Xion. We were just talking about what to buy Hayner and Roxas." She put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to get out of shopping with me?"

"What?" Xion shook her head and looked in the direction the boy had gone, but he had been swallowed by the crowds. "No, Olette, there was someone! He had blue eyes, and his hair was- was…" She couldn't remember. Just like the night she had first seen him, everything was blurry again. Everything except for the eyes. Xion slumped against the window to the jewelry store and recalled Cecil's words from yesterday. A person from another world who does not belong, and so your mind refuses to acknowledge him.

But he knew her.

Who _was_ he?

**x-x-x**

Sora sat on the Twilight Town clock tower. His exit would be here soon—a 'Backdoor', Chip and Dale had called it. He just had to wait for everything to link up. Then he could go back to Disney Castle and tell them what had happened in the last few days.

Xion… Xion didn't remember him. What were they going to do now?

Sora leaned back and stared at the orange sky. "At least the ice cream in this world tastes the same," he said as he finished off a stick of sea-salt. "Hopefully the King has some answers when I get back."

A glowing silver crack appeared in the wall, which if Sora remembered right was the first sign of the Backdoor. Now he just had to wait for it to open all the way. But he heard footsteps approaching and immediately jumped up to his feet. Was one of the people who lived here coming up to the clock tower? He wasn't sure what would happen if they saw the Backdoor. Instead of some random townsperson, however, the first thing Sora saw round the corner was a black mask.

"Vanitas?!" Sora called forth his Keyblade and crouched down. How had he been found so soon? This was bad… But then he noticed that aside from the mask this newcomer actually didn't have much in common with Vanitas at all. While he did wear black, it looked more like an armored jumpsuit than Vanitas's muscle-like outfit. Neon blue lights decorated the armor, including a symbol on the chest made out of four squares that resembled a 'T'.

"Who are you?" The stranger reached behind him and pulled a ring off of his back. He separated it into two rings, one in each hand, and crouched into a battle position as well. "You're not part of the code or on the list of accepted Users. You do not belong here. Please, tell me who you are. I don't want to have to hurt you."


	4. Connected Hearts

_You can blame Twitch Plays Pokémon for the wait on this. Never before has walking around in circles been so hypnotic._

* * *

**Chapter 4: Connected Hearts**

_"You're not part of the code or on the list of accepted Users. You do not belong here. Please, tell me who you are. I don't want to have to hurt you." _

_Sora stared at the masked man and his strange weapons. Just who was this guy? Neither he nor anyone back at Disney Castle had been expecting to fight anything beyond Braig and Vanitas. Did they have a new ally? This was a big game-changer, because unlike those two they had absolutely nothing to go on about this guy._

_Sora stood up straight and held a hand out imploringly. "Hey, let's just talk this out." He had asked for Sora's name rather than demanded, which made Sora hopeful he could be reasoned with. "My name's Sora. And if we can avoid fighting, that would be great. I'm just looking for a friend."_

_The masked man hesitated. He took a step back and looked at the weapons in his own hands. "I…" He shook his head and all hesitation was gone. "I'm sorry, but I was upgraded with the intention to protect this world at all costs—and more than that, I made a promise to a friend that that's what I would do. I can't break that."_

_Sora sighed in defeat. "Well… I know what it's like to make a promise to a friend. But I swear to you I'm not here to harm your world, really! I just want to save Xion!"_

_The stranger shook his head once again, much more forcefully this time. "No. I've been watching you— you entered this world through illegal access channels and you've been frightening those who live here. I'm protecting more than just the research. I'm protecting the people as well!" He jumped up and cartwheeled through the air toward Sora, his discs leaving behind trails of blue light as they sailed through the air. Sora brought up his Keyblade and blocked the strike, only to get kicked in the face by an armored black boot for his efforts. "Please. If you don't go now I will have to hurt you."_

_"Not without Xion!"_

"_I saw that, too; she clearly does not know who you are. You won't kidnap someone under my protection!"_

_He dropped to the floor and swept a leg under Sora's feet, knocking the boy over. Sora grabbed tightly onto the stone ledge and glanced with worried eyes at the ground so far down below them. This was a poor place to fight. He climbed back onto his feet and swung the Keyblade again. The masked man leaned back to avoid the swing, but Sora followed up his attack by casting Fire. The spell wasn't as powerful as he would have hoped but it was at least enough to knock his attacker away for a moment._

_Sora grabbed at his chest and took several deep breaths. This was a __**really**__ bad situation he was in. Not only had it been four months since the final battle with Xemnas and so he was a little rusty, but he was also completely without Xion. Since Sora's power was split between him and Xion due to her absorbing his Nobody, the two of them relied on each other. And so because of that they were only at full strength when together. But Xion wasn't here, which meant Sora had to deal with the exhaustion too much physical strain would put him through. Not too much of a problem normally, since he had put up with it for four months already, but in battle it was another story. Sora groaned and glanced over to the crack in the wall. He could keep the fight up a little longer, but not forever. The Backdoor needed to hurry up and finish opening._

_Sora snapped to attention just in time to dodge one of the man's discs flying toward him at top speed. As Sora watched it sail past him and into the orange sky, the man came down on him with the other in his hand. The razor edges of the strange weapon struck Sora in his left shoulder. The sudden sharp pain caused Sora to cry out and his footing to slip. Luckily he was able to fall away from the ledge, toward the back wall instead, but it was still a terrifying experience. That had been way too close._

_There was a sound like radio static followed by shattering glass. Sora looked up at the wall above him, where there was now a large black hole outline by white in the wall of the clock tower. The Backdoor had opened._

_The masked man reached up to grab his thrown disc as it came back to him from wherever it had flown off to like a boomerang, but hesitated before he struck Sora. Sora climbed up to his feet, looking between the Backdoor and the man. His opponent shook his masked head, recombined the two discs, and placed them on his back._

"_I wanted you gone in the first place, so with your exit open I have no reason to fight you. Now leave, so I can block access to here from wherever it is you came from." He turned to the Backdoor and held a hand up. A screen appeared in front of him, hanging in midair, and hundreds of words beyond Sora's comprehension raced by on it. "…I… can't figure out where this leads?"_

"_That's Chip and Dale's engineering for you, I guess." Sora moved to enter the Backdoor, but the man held his arm in Sora's way._

"_Without learning where this goes I can't cut the link. I want your word that you won't return here."_

_Sora sighed and looked the man in the eyes—or, where he assumed his eyes were beneath the mask. "No."_

_"If you return here I will fight you again, User or no. You used an illegal channel to come here."_

_"Look, I'm sorry I invaded your home, but Xion is my friend. I'm coming back until I can get her home safe." Sora stepped around the man's arm and set a foot inside the Backdoor. "And I know the way I got in here was against the rules, but trust me: the people running this aren't your friends."_

_"Running this? But I'm working autonomously. Ansem hasn't checked in since he transferred my program."_

_"Auto…" Sora's eyes widened. "Wait, did you just say An-" The Backdoor shut behind him, cutting him off from Twilight Town and the masked man. "…sem? Great."_

That had been yesterday. Their parting words had told Sora that obviously this guy wasn't involved with Braig and Vanitas. And as for Ansem, at the time he had been confused whether he had meant DiZ or Xehanort's Heartless. Whether he could be a friend or foe all depended on which Ansem he was talking about.

With all these questions and without Xion, Sora had trudged through the blue rooms of System Sector until he reached the exit to Disney Castle. In the library everyone greeted him happily and listened to his recount of the last few days. The news of Xion's memory wipe had deflated them as much as it had him, but at least Chip, Dale, and Mickey were able to answer his questions.

According to Chip and Dale, the System Sector linking Disney Castle to the false Twilight Town went through about a dozen different 'proxies' – Sora had no idea what those were and just nodded – and was impossible to successfully track because of that and that the two computers were housed on different worlds. They had gone through those safety measures to keep Braig from finding Disney Castle, but it had clearly come in handy by saving them from losing their only way to Xion just then.

As for Mickey, he had seemed especially interested in the encounter with the masked man. After Sora finished his story, the King revealed his suspicions about the attacker's identity. Apparently, shortly before the Battle of Hollow Bastion months ago Ansem the Wise had accessed Hollow Bastion's computer – Sora remembered that, he had left a letter for them then – and taken a sentient security program out of it to put in Twilight Town's computer. That same program must have been upgraded and was simply doing his duty protecting what was housed in that computer. This meant he wasn't on Braig's side. And apparently he had gotten along great with Mickey, so he could be reasoned with. Sora just had to bring up their mutual friend the next time he saw him.

And so after a good night's rest, Sora had returned to Xion's Twilight Town. He was ever on guard in case he was attacked, but at the moment there was time to relax. A crowd of teens and young adults stood in front of the train station as a man in a black jacket announced some event. He could see Xion's face in the crowd, but even if he hadn't he would have known she was there. This close his strength was returning, which could only mean she was feeling stronger too.

**x-x-x**

The day at the mall had ended rather unceremoniously for Xion, especially after her strange incident with that boy who knew her name. She and Olette had moved on, checking store after store as they tried to find something to get the boys for Christmas. In the end they poured their munny together and did buy that new camera for Pence, as well as a fancy new skateboard for Hayner, but for Roxas they were having trouble coming up with anything. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Xion could think of plenty of things to get him, but for some reason nothing felt good enough. Two hours passed before they knew it and the she and Olette returned to the fountain where the boys were waiting. Despite Olette's insistence, Hayner adamantly refused to show her what was in the bag he was carrying, holding it above her head and threatening to drop it into the water when she tried to reach for it.

The next day was the last day without snow according to the forecast. And so Biggs – a shop owner down in the Tram Common who was a friend of Roxas – had organized a skateboard race down Market Street. Xion knew that Twilight Town had a large skating community, but when she and her friends arrived at the Station Plaza to start she was surprised at just how many people had showed up.

Biggs was explaining the rules over the roar of the crowd, but Xion wasn't really paying much attention. She had memorized them all earlier, since Biggs had given Roxas a list of rules when he had first come up with the race. The first person to reach the empty lot in the Tram Common wins. Any route you choose to get down there is viable. Skateboard or roller skates only; walking is only allowed if you're in a position where it's impossible to continue, and you must get back on your wheels as soon as you can. No harming anyone, intentionally or otherwise; if you do, you're disqualified.

Simple.

Xion, Hayner, and Roxas weren't so much interested in winning the race as they were in beating each other. Kronk had promised their group that he'd have a freshly-baked cake ready for them when the race was done, and the first of them to win got the biggest slice.

"You sure you're okay, Xion?" Hayner asked as he checked the wheels of his board to make sure they weren't loose.

"More than okay. I feel great." It wasn't a lie. Xion felt better today than she had in years, and though she had taken Dr. Sweet's medicine this morning she honestly wondered if it wasn't necessary. "You sound like Roxas."

"Hey, thanks!" Roxas said next to her, humor in his voice. "Guess if you don't want me to worry about you I won't."

Xion shoved a hand into Roxas's shoulder. "Oh come on, I'm just playing with you." She pulled her coat off and handed it to Olette, who had a bag that also held Hayner's and Roxas's. It was weird, but even though there was supposed to be snow tomorrow it was actually relatively warm today—relatively being the keyword, though. Xion didn't think she'd ever understand weather.

"You guys are gonna do great," Olette said as she put Xion's coat into the back. "Pence and I will be waiting down at the lot for you guys."

Pence lifted a fist into the air. "Show Rai what you're made of!"

Xion looked ahead of them, where the boy in question was standing. Rai was the only one of Seifer's gang to be into this, which Xion was personally glad for. The less she had to deal with them the better. That said, Rai was certainly intimidating with the way he towered over everyone. He was even wearing a tank top in the middle of winter, no doubt to show off his muscles. She hoped she didn't run into him in the race, since for all their talk of being a Disciplinary Committee Xion wasn't sure Rai could be trusted to play by the rules.

"Okay, everyone to the starting line!" Biggs was holding up a megaphone to his mouth, but even with it he still had to shout.

"That's our cue." Hayner grabbed Roxas and Xion and pulled the two of them over to the edge of the Station Plaza, right where it met Market Street. Xion looked over at her shoulder to see Pence and Olette taking a side rode down the hillside. Seifer and Fuu were going that way too.

Biggs spoke up again. "A friendly reminder to everyone: all routes are valid and no attacking other racers. And so, ready…" Xion rolled her board back and forth with one foot. "Go!"

At Biggs's shout, everyone moved as one big wave down the main road of Market Street. Roxas was to her left and Hayner to her right, but the latter ended up dragging behind when some kid with red hair moved in front of him. In these narrower streets near the top of the mountain it was rather chaotic, though as Market Street widened out and smaller paths branched off of it things would clear up. Xion, however, was a little impatient to get going.

With such a sharp turn that she nearly fell off her board, Xion rounded a corner and entered the back alley where their Usual Spot hid. There was an entry into the tunnels that moved all over Twilight Town here, a leftover from the old days when this mountain had been used to hide during an ancient war. After the city was built the tunnels were rediscovered and redone for safety's sake.

It was a second sharp turn left and suddenly the sunlight was cut off, replaced by the dim glow of electrical lights over her head. Jumping off a ledge and landing in a small room in the middle of the tunnels, Xion rolled to a stop. Which way led to the right exit, again…? An echoing sound came down the tunnels from the direction she came, and Xion looked up just in time to see the brick wall called Rai jump off the ledge she had just come down. Rai glanced over to her and came to a stop as well.

"Hey, taking the tunnels is cheap, ya know!"

Xion grimaced. "All routes are legal, Rai. And you're taking the tunnels too, aren't you?"

Rai rubbed the back of his head and scowled. "Yeah, well… Shut up, ya know?" He started moving again, rolling away slowly down the next tunnel. Xion bit her lip. She wanted to ask him a question, and this would probably be her only chance.

"…Hey." Rai stopped and Xion looked up at his eyes. "Have you guys found Vivi yet?"

"Who?"

Xion felt her jaw drop. Was Rai screwing with her or something? "What do you mean 'who'?! Vivi! The little kid who was always with you, who went missing yesterday!"

Rai rolled his eyes. "This inverse psychiatry ain't gonna work on me, ya know? I have no idea who you're talkin' about." He kicked off against the ground to get some speed ahead of Xion and continued on down the tunnels. Xion suppressed a panicked scream and followed after him. Rai wasn't the sharpest guy in the world, but even he would have to remember Vivi. What was going on?

"Rai! Wait up and answer me!"

"No way! You just wanna get ahead in the race, ya know?"

_Ugh. No, what I __**want**__ is to learn what happened to Vivi!_ Light was rapidly approaching her now, and she and Rai broke out of the tunnel into the sunlight of the Tram Common. The empty lot was to their right, past the candy shop and help wanted board. To her left Xion could see others coming down from Market Street, including Hayner and Roxas who were behind just a handful of others.

Xion turned in a wide arc, which meant she probably wouldn't make it into the lot as quickly but at least she wouldn't risk falling over on a sharper turn. At this point it looked like Rai was going to win the race, but to Xion's shock a familiar head of blond hair flew past her. Roxas looked over his shoulder and grinned at Xion before moving up to Rai. The two of them were right beside each other, but at the turn into the lot Rai messed up just as Xion had feared she would: falling off while trying to turn on a dime. Rai crashed into the paved stone while Roxas continued on to the cheer of the crowd.

The rest of the racers followed soon after, including Xion and Hayner. Roxas was currently being hugged to death by a cheering Olette and Pence while Biggs thanked everyone for coming.

"You okay?" Hayner asked behind her.

Xion put a hand on her chest and took in a deep breath. "Yup, totally fine. I'm feeling one hundred percent."

"Great! Weird, but great. Come on, let's get Olette off of Roxas before she chokes the air out of him."

Xion giggled and nodded, and the two of them walked up to their friend to congratulate him. However, as soon as Olette was off of Roxas Xion replaced him, hugging her best friend tightly. She could practically feel the smirk on Hayner's face and was about to silence his teasing prematurely, but Roxas pulled away from Xion and looked over at someone behind her.

"Hey, chicken-wuss!" Oh great. Seifer was marching over to them with his fists clenched and teeth bared. Rai and Fuu were behind him, the former rubbing his wounded shoulder and the latter looking as dead ever. "Do you think what you did was funny back there, blondie?"

"What are you talking about?" Hayner demanded, stepping forward.

"Rule-breaker," Fuu said simply, pointing a finger at Roxas.

Roxas shook his head. "Rai fell over on his own, if that's what you're talking about."

Wait, they were accusing Roxas of attacking him? Xion stomped her foot. "I was right behind them and saw the whole thing. Roxas is innocent!"

"You gonna have your girlfriend defend you like that? Man up, dude." Seifer crossed his arms. "Rai's too good of a skater to just fall over like that. What'd you do, sabotage the board?"

Roxas sighed. "If you don't want to believe me, then that's fine. But I really didn't have anything to do with it. Rai just made a mistake—we all do sometimes."

"This was no mistake, ya know!" Rai marched forward and raised a fist into Roxas's face. "Fess up!"

"Hey, back off!" Hayner said, shoving Rai away and getting between him and Roxas. "You mess with our friend, you mess with all of us."

"Ha, _now_ you're talkin'!" Seifer laughed. He and Fuu ran up to Rai's side and got into combat position. Was he really going to get into a fistfight, right here in this crowded little lot?

Olette spoke up next. "Hey, can't we talk this out?"

"Stay out of this, Olette!" Hayner snapped.

"Actually, I think that's a great idea." All of them turned to the new voice, which Xion recognized but couldn't put a name to. The woman speaking was a few years older than all of them and wearing red, pink, and white. Her hair – blonde with a green tint - was done up in a ponytail with a few locks above her forehead. "Talking things out is always better than fighting. It's how you protect everyone."

Hayner groaned. "This is none of your business, Terra."

Xion, for her part, stared in stunned silence at the thin woman. Terra… That's right, she was Terra Branford. Xion knew her. But why did the same sound so off? When she thought of someone named Terra, she didn't think of this woman even though she had known her most of her life. The name just kept bringing up that armored figure from her dream two nights ago…

Terra rested her hands on her hips. "Hayner, isn't Kronk waiting for you?" The blond boy grumbled something that sounded vaguely like a confirmation. "As for you Seifer, you're just trying to pick a fight with them aren't you?"

"Always am." Well, at least he didn't deny it. "But Rai wouldn't have fallen over if it weren't for Roxas!"

"I told you I didn't do anything," Roxas shot back.

"Liar," Fuu said calmly.

"He didn't!" Xion shouted.

"That's enough." Terra stepped in between their two groups, holding her hands out to keep Seifer and Hayner from killing each other. "Can't you all just let it be water under the bridge for once in your lives? It's winter vacation, you kids should all enjoy it."

Seifer straightened up and glared at Roxas and Hayner. If looks could kill they'd drop dead in an instant. "…Fine. But only because it's Terra." He turned around and stormed off.

Xion took in a deep breath and stepped forward. She need to know something before he left. Another step. "Seifer, wait."

"What do you want?"

"I'm just worried about Vivi. Have you found him anywhere?"

Seifer stared at her over his shoulder and then looked to Rai and Fuu, who both shrugged. "Vivi? Never heard of him."

Just like Rai. "But-"

"You're wasting my time. Fuu! Rai! Let's get out of here."

Xion watched as they vanished into the large crowd that was leaving the lot. Why didn't they remember who Vivi was? That didn't make any sense… Xion felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Terra.

"You okay?"

"…Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for stopping the fight, Terra." Xion was about to ask her about Vivi, but she didn't think Terra had met him. There wouldn't be a point.

"Any time. I'll see you guys again, alright?"

"Let's meet up before vacation is over," Pence said as he waved after her. Terra joined the crowd as well. Xion didn't really care. He turned to Xion, who was sure she looked pathetic right now. "Hey Xion, what were you asking her about?"

"Vivi's still missing and Seifer and Rai are playing dumb about it."

"Who?" Xion stared up at Pence with wide, horrified eyes. He was raising an eyebrow. "Is Vivi a friend of yours or something? What's he like?"

"What- Pence, you know Vivi! He's the little kid who always wears a big yellow hat!"

Pence brought a hand to his chin. "That… doesn't ring any bells."

Xion spun around. "Hayner, Seifer confronted you about him yesterday!"

The blond boy just shook his head and shrugged. "Today's the first time I've seen Seifer all week, Xion. I'd have liked to keep the meeting off even longer."

Xion was shaking. Her friends wouldn't mess with her like this, so what? Had she just _made up_ some kid she barely knew? "What's going on? Vivi disappears and suddenly everyone forgets him, is that it? Don't you see what's going on here? A little kid is missing, _forgotten_, and nobody cares!"

Roxas grabbed Xion's shoulders gently and looked her in the eyes. "Xion, calm down. We don't know anyone named Vivi. You must have had a bad dream last night or something."

No, she hadn't. She knew Vivi. She had seen him the first day of vacation. Xion broke away from his grip and looked down at the ground. "I… I need to be alone right now."

"Wait, Xion!" She ignored Roxas as she ran at full speed through the crowded streets.

**x-x-x**

Sora wasn't sure what was going on. He had made sure to keep up with Xion throughout the race so she wouldn't exhaust herself, and had cheered when Roxas had won. He almost jumped in when those other three looked ready to beat the group up, even, but had restrained himself. All his appearing would do would freak people out again.

But then Xion had started ranting about some one named Vivi. Sora didn't recognize the name, but he recognized the description she had said: little boy, big pointy hat. Yeah, he had seen him around town. So why didn't anyone else notice him? When Xion ran off Sora followed, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to keep up with her. At present she was sitting against the wall that cut Twilight Town from the forest, hugging her knees to her chest.

"I should really go down there and talk to her." Sora was just about to leap off the roof he was on when he heard a sound behind him. The Keybearer summoned his Keyblade and turned around just in time to block two razor-edge discs before they cut his head in half. His attacker from yesterday was back.

"I told you I'd stop you if you returned," he said from beneath the mask.

Sora struggled against the discs. How were such little weapons so strong? "Wait! Are you Tron? Mickey sent me; I'm a friend of his!"

The masked man hesitated. "Mickey?" He leaped back, landing about a yard away, and stood up straight. "You mean Mickey Mouse? …I suppose you do have similar weapons."

Sora couldn't hide his wide grin. "Yes, that's me! He told me you guys were friends, after I left yesterday. See, I'm not your enemy."

Tron's mask glowed and opened, revealing a pale face beneath it. "If that's true, then why did you sneak in here through that Backdoor?"

"Because of who's controlling this town."

"Ansem the Wise-"

"Tron, Ansem's dead. Someone else is in charge, someone really bad."

Tron stared at Sora with wide eyes. "Dead? But, he was my User! …What happened? Who's running the computer now?"

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," a cruel voice said. Sora shivered. He knew that voice, because it sounded almost exactly like his own. A corridor of darkness opened up and as one he and Tron turned to it. A masked boy in black and white armor stepped out.

"Vanitas."

"Long time no see, kid." Vanitas said. He walked forward and called a weapon into his hands. Sora had never seen this one, but there was no denying what it was: a Keyblade. Black and white, like Vanitas's armor was.

"Tron, he's one of the two who are in charge now!"

Tron held up a hand and called a screen. His eyes narrowed as he read whatever was written on it. "I see… another User. Because you came in here through Ansem the Wise's digitizer, your signature was hidden. That's why I never noticed you on the scans."

Vanitas scoffed. "Or maybe you're just blind. So preoccupied protecting your precious research data you don't even pay attention to the rumors. I've become famous in this town."

"What are you after? Is it Ansem's data?"

"No, I really couldn't care less about some old man. Now why don't you be a good little security program and get rid of the intruder?" Tron shook his head and crouched down, glaring at Vanitas as he held his discs for battle. Without warning, Vanitas burst into laughter. "You think you can handle me? Fine." With his Keyblade in one hand he spread his legs apart and held the other hand in front of him. So he didn't just dress like Riku, he held his weapon like Riku too. Vanitas turned his head to Sora. "Your face pisses me off. Let's fix that."

Vanitas jumped high up into the air and brought his Keyblade down on Sora, who jumped backwards with a split second to spare. Sora spun on his heel and swung his own Keyblade out, clashing with Vanitas's as Vanitas tried to swing at him again. He swept his foot at Vanitas's legs to trip him up, but Vanitas jumped over that and struck Sora in the back. Sora fell forward and spun around, aiming his Keyblade at Vanitas and casting Aerora.

The force of the wind knocked Vanitas back, right into a waiting Tron. The man struck at the masked boy with his twin discs, then acrobatically jumped above Vanitas and struck him again in the chest. Or that's what he tried to do—before the weapons could connect Vanitas's image blurred and he vanished, Tron's discs swinging through empty air.

"Pathetic." Vanitas appeared behind Tron and stabbed his Keyblade through the program's back. Tron screamed out in pain as particles of data flew out of his wound.

"Vanitas, stop it!" Sora shouted, running at the boy. Their Keyblades met once again, sending sparks flying as the two clashed. Sora planted his feet firmly on the ground and pushed against the black and white sword with all he had, while Vanitas didn't seem to be putting any effort into their struggle at all.

Sora finally broke Vanitas's guard, pushing the Keyblade away and striking him in the torso. "You'll pay for that!" Vanitas roared, jumping into the air. Darkness surrounded his Keyblade and he dived down, stabbing the Keyblade into the ground and sending waves of purple and black magic rippling out around him. Sora cast Reflect around him and Tron, and while the shield held turned to the program.

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better. This isn't enough to derezz me, but it's… pretty painful, I'll admit."

Sora wasn't sure if Cure worked on digital life, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. A green light surrounded Tron and sure enough the wound in his chest vanished. Sora sighed in relief.

"Thank you." Tron stood up as the Reflect shattered and Vanitas charged at them. Sora brought his Keyblade up to parry the hit, but the force behind Vanitas's charge knocked him back to the edge of the building. As Sora teetered on the edge, Tron leaped at Vanitas with his two discs.

The masked boy jumped back with a mocking "Too slow."

Tron turned around and grabbed Sora's hand to keep him from falling. "What do we do now?" Sora asked.

Tron kneeled down and called up multiple screens. "Keep him off me for just a little while. Mere seconds are all I need."

"If you say so." Sora ran at Vanitas and swerved around him, slashing his Keyblade into the masked boy's back. Vanitas responded by spinning around and slashing his own Keyblade across Sora's chest. Their blades locked once more as the two struggled against each other. Vanitas, however, had something over Sora: a one-handed fighting style. His free hand glowed a bright blue and Sora looked down to see ice forming on it.

"Freeze!" Vanitas shouted, thrusting his hand into Sora's chest and casting Blizzaga. Sora encircled his body with Firaga in time to avoid being frozen solid, but the impact from the spell still tossed him backwards. He landed next to Tron, who was grinning.

"Tron?"

"It's working. Sora, help me out!" Sora climbed up to his feet and stood back to back with Tron as the program rapidly typed away at the screen. "Running executable!"

A white pattern appeared at their feet and light flashed at the tip of Sora's Keyblade. Instinctively he raised it into the air, and suddenly dozens of little white machines made out of polygons appeared and surrounded Vanitas. With a swing of his Keyblade the little polygons struck the masked boy, hitting him rapidly at every moment. He didn't have a chance to break out.

A pattern formed in the air around Sora—a white circle surrounded in red. "Access approved!" he heard Tron shout from behind him. Mimicking Tron's own movements, Sora slammed a hand onto the panel in front of him. Red light pulsed out from the polygons and they quickened their pace, as well as moving without Sora's commands.

"What was that?" Sora asked Tron.

"A security protocol. Quickly, while he's distracted!"

The two charged at Vanitas, a streak of black among a swarm of white, but the masked boy roared and sent waves of darkness out. The polygons vanished, breaking apart into pixels that flew into the air. "You're all pissing me off!"

Vanitas jumped high into the sky and pointed his Keyblade at them while gripping it with both hands. Three blue crystals formed in the air around him. "Darkness waits!" The crystals flashed and fired beams of light between them, which met in the middle and formed a glowing orb of darkness. "Suffer!" The orb fire a large beam at Sora and Tron like a cannon, pure darkness erupting out of Vanitas's Keyblade.

Sora cast Reflega as quickly as he could, but he wasn't sure if it would be enough.

**x-x-x**

Twilight Town was suddenly thrust into chaos.

Xion had been moping in the shade of Twilight Town's wall, trying to figure out what had happened to Vivi, when suddenly the building in front of her _exploded_. Fire broke out among the rubble and panicked crowds screamed and ran about in horror. In the distance Xion could hear sirens. But for her part, she only stared with wide-eyes at the building. In the smoke, she thought she could make out the silhouettes of three figures.

The building next to the one that had exploded creaked. Xion looked up as it began to fall—right on top of her. Frozen in fear, she put her hands over hears and clenched her eyes shut tight, trying to block out the orange stone rapidly fall toward her.

But it never came.

And, Xion noticed, all the sounds had halted. She couldn't even hear the crackling of the flames.

Xion opened her eyes and took in a deep breath. The collapsing building was suspended in midair above her, and behind it the billowing smoke and burning fires were frozen solid. The crowds around her were just as still, their mouths open in silent screams.

"What's going on…?" Xion looked around. It was like time had come to a stop. "Hayner? Pence, Olette? Roxas!" No response.

"Wake up, Poppet." Xion spun around. A man with an eye patch stood behind her. He wore grey, with a purple sash across his chest and a darker purple scarf around his neck. And black boots and gloves, as well as silver streaks in his black hair.

"Who are you?" Xion asked, taking a step back. He didn't exactly give off a friendly vibe, especially with the way his gold eye – _gold!_ – stared at her.

"Hey, I'm telling you to wake up. Isn't it obvious?" He looked around them and raised a hand at the frozen building for emphasis. "Time doesn't just stop out of nowhere, right? This is a dream. You're asleep."

"A dream?" Yes. Yes that was it. It had to be.

"Right? Now why don't you be a good little girl and wake up?" The man walked forward and Xion felt dizzy. She clutched her head as the town around her began to contort, her vision blurring and blacking out every few seconds. "Wake up and live your life. You and your pals are going to the mountains tomorrow, aren't you?"

The strange man rested a hand on her forehead and Xion fell backwards into a deep sleep.


	5. Tell Me the Truth

**Chapter 5: Tell Me the Truth  
**

"Tron… why?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you jump in front of me back there?" Sora slid down with his back against the blue wall of the System Sector, his voice echoing in the empty chamber. Sitting on the ground and dismissing his Keyblade, Sora placed a hand on Tron's shoulder and cast Cure. The green light flowed from his hand into the man next to him, who was clutching at his side as pixels flew out of an open wound.

Reflega had held off Vanitas's attack for a few seconds, but it shattered liked glass soon enough. In their brief instant of safety, Tron had opened up a Backdoor and shoved Sora inside, taking the full assault of the darkness. Frantic, Sora had pulled the nearly unconscious man inside and closed the Backdoor as quickly as he could. Vanitas, charging at them through the smoke, was mere inches away when the crack in reality shut tight.

"I suppose one answer is that you're a User." Tron watched as Sora's healing magic pulled the bits making up his being back into their proper place. "But the real reason is beyond just that. You're a good kid, Sora—you're true to your friends. I can see that with just the few interactions we've had." He stood up and offered a gloved hand to Sora. The boy took it and climbed up to his feet.

"You're sure that he can't follow us in here, right?" It didn't look any different than the System Sector he used to get back to Disney Castle. There was even that same hollow echo when he stepped on the blue floor.

"One hundred percent certain. This System Sector is for secure use only. Without a password they can never break in."

"But if Braig is at Ansem's computer, won't he figure out the password eventually?"

"Unlikely. Ansem hid it behind a cipher, and if this Braig person was any good with computers he would have rewritten my source code to be loyal to him a long time ago." Tron called up a screen and began typing quickly. A few moments later, a second one appeared to his side and he moved his left hand to it.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked, walking behind Tron and looking over his shoulder.

Tron replied with a question of his own. "Have you heard the rumors about you?"

"Huh?" Sora blinked and looked away with embarrassment. "Um… Some of them, yeah." How could he have _not_ heard with all the creeping around town he had done? Apparently people had trouble remembering his appearance or something, which was just bizarre. Sora couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing he was inadvertently creeping out the people of the town. But it would be worth it in the end, because it was for Xion. "Why?"

Tron smiled sadly. "The people of this Twilight Town refuse to acknowledge you because of a sense of 'wrongness' you gave off. The reason for this feeling is because you hacked your way inside the system instead of coming in the normal way like that Vanitas person did. And so the system rejected you, which in turn meant the people of the system rejected you on a subconscious level."

"Uh… huh…" Sora was lost, and his utter confusion seemed to be obvious to Tron because the man chuckled.

"To put it simply, what I'm doing is putting your data inside of the database. What this means is that you'll be able to interact with people normally, without them subconsciously trying to ignore your existence." He looked up at Sora and smiled. "The next time you talk to Xion, she'll see you clearly. But so will everyone else."

Sora's face lit up. "Really? That's great, thank you!" The he frowned and crossed his arms. "But… What happened to not wanting me near the people you're protecting?"

Tron shook his head and sighed. "I'm still not sure what's going on. I had thought Xion was another program living here, but I'm starting to suspect she's actually a User." He merged the two screens together and started scrolling down, sliding his hand along a section and breaking a corner of the screen off into its own window. "This will take some time, so why don't you explain everything? I'll answer any questions you have, too."

"Okay, sounds good. So… where do I start?" Sora moved his hands behind his head and took in a deep breath as he leaned against the wall. "Four months ago, my friend Xion suddenly went missing from the island where we live. She had only been living there a few weeks before it happened. We looked all over the islands but couldn't find her, so the next thing I did was get in touch with the King." Sora kicked at the floor as he spoke. "Eventually he was able to figure out that this guy, Braig, had kidnapped her—and we know exactly why."

"Why?" Tron asked, looking up from his work with curiosity.

"Xion's heart… isn't really _her_ heart. She got it from my Nobody, who himself got it from somebody named Ventus who was the King's friend a long time ago." Sora gripped at his chest and looked down. "I didn't know at first why Braig was after Ven's heart, but after the King learned that Xion has it inside of her, he told me. Vanitas and Ventus, they're two halves of the same person. If Vanitas merges with the heart's light, then he can create a weapon called the χ-blade."

"You mean like those swords you and Mickey carry?"

"No. At least, I don't think so." Sora called on his Keyblade and held it out in front of him. "It's called the 'χ-blade', not 'Keyblade'. Mickey wrote it down to show me; it looks like 'X-blade'." The Keyblade vanished in a flash of light as quickly as it had come. "The χ-blade has the power to summon and open Kingdom Hearts."

"Now _that_ I am aware of." Tron opened a new window and passed it to Sora. Sora found that he was intimidated at all of the words; it looked longer than some of his textbooks from school. "That is part of Ansem the Wise's research data that he charged me to protect. Legends say that Kingdom Hearts was the source of all light in the World. When warriors fought over that precious light, Kingdom Hearts disappeared into the Realm of Darkness and the World was swallowed by shadow."

Sora nodded. He had heard this story before, from Kairi's grandmother. He remembered that vision clearly. "The light in the hearts of children restored the World, but in the form of the hundreds of smaller, separate worlds we have today," he said softly. "I've seen Kingdom Hearts before—twice if the Organization's fake one counts. It's way too powerful for anyone to use. That's why I can't let Braig and Vanitas get the χ-blade."

"Is that the only reason?"

"What? Of course not!" Sora held his hands out defiantly. "Honestly, it's the last thing on my mind right now! The main reason I'm here is to save Xion and bring her back home. It wouldn't matter if she was part of the χ-blade or not; if a friend needs me to be there, I'll be there!"

Tron grinned widely. "That's what I wanted to hear." He closed the windows in front of him and crossed his arms in thought. "So, they must have planned on keeping Xion here until the time was right to forge the χ-blade. And the reason I thought Xion was another part of this digital town must have been because they created a false identity for her in the system—basically the same thing I just did for you, only they went one step beyond and gave her false memories along with it."

"Okay, I think I get it. So, why does this town exist anyway?"

Tron rested his hands on his hips as he spoke. "Ansem told me he had originally intended to use it to hold someone called Roxas, but that plan went awry." Sora felt a frown tug at his lips. Roxas… "Now it's holding very important research data—data that I will keep safe, no matter what." Tron held his hand out and the screen in Sora's grip with the information about Kingdom Hearts vanished.

Sora grasped his fingers around the empty air where the screen had been just a moment ago. "Do you think they want that research?"

"Vanitas said he didn't care about Ansem… I don't think they're even aware of the data, which is good news for me." Tron gave Sora a thumbs-up. "That means that I can help you without worrying about them taking it while my guard's down."

Sora grinned for the first time in a while. "That's great. Let's start right away!"

**x-x-x**

The sunlight gently came in from the window and rubbed at her face. She rolled over and muttered some words not fit for a girl her age, burying her face in the pillow and waving away the sun. But the light wasn't having any of that, and she could swear that it doubled its intensity in reply.

"Fine, I'm up…" Xion grumbled, sitting up. She brought a hand between her and the window to keep the sunlight from piercing her eyes, but it still flooded her room with orange. And of course the light came from the orange sky, and made the buildings outside even more orange than they were already.

Xion was starting to get really tired of that color.

Images of the last three or four days poured into Xion's head as she stared down at her blue sheets. The assault from the masked boy, the stranger with blue eyes outside her apartment and at the mall, everyone forgetting about Vivi, the building exploding, the man with an eyepatch… Xion kept telling herself they were all bad dreams, but inside she knew that wasn't true. This was all really happening. But why? _What was going on?_

Xion looked up at the framed picture of her and Roxas at the beach that sat on the nightstand by her phone. She picked it up and smiled softly, sadly. "I wonder if I can talk to him about this… I need someone to talk to, at least." She put the picture back down and reached for her phone, but before she could call Roxas there was a knock at her bedroom door.

Xion glanced down at her loose grey shirt and black sweats. She wasn't really dressed for a visitor, but she also wasn't about to keep whoever it was waiting while she got ready. "Come in," she said while running a hand through her hair to alleviate the bed head she was sure she had.

The door creaked open and Roxas stepped inside. "Hey."

"Roxas?" Xion blushed slightly at him seeing her like this, even if he had already dozens of times before.

"I hope you don't mind if I invited myself in," he said while rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, and I filled up Dodger's food for the morning."

"Thanks." Xion shook her head and smiled. "And it's fine; we gave you the key for a reason. So…" She leaned over and rested her head on her arms, which were crossed over her knees. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Olette sent me to check if you're still up for going to the ski lodge."

Xion's eyes widened and she sat up straight so quickly she almost fell back. "That's today?! Roxas, I'm so sorry! Oh no, the train leaves soon doesn't it? I'm holding everyone up!"

"Xion, calm down. We still have a little while." Roxas walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Anyway, that's only part of why I'm here. Xion… are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine…"

Roxas leaned in close and looked Xion in the eyes. She felt her blush deepen. "Xion, tell me the truth."

Well, she had wanted to talk to him anyway. Xion motioned for Roxas to sit down and he planted himself on the edge of her bed. Inhaling deeply, she began. "I've been having these weird thoughts lately…"

Roxas inched closer, curious. "Weird thoughts?"

"Roxas…is any of this for real, or not?" Ugh, she sounded so stupid. Why did he have to come visit her this morning? "I mean… There's just been a lot of stuff happening, like no one remembering Vivi."

"Oh yeah. That's why you left yesterday, isn't it?"

Xion looked up at Roxas and fought back tears. "Roxas, when we were going to Kronk's the first day of vacation, we stopped by the Sandlot and saw Seifer and his gang."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I remember."

"You stopped because you said you were worried about Vivi, didn't you?"

Roxas looked like he was about to say no, he never said anything like that, but he stopped and looked down at his hands resting in his lap. "I… did say that, didn't I? But… I really don't know anyone named Vivi, Xion."

Xion let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan and fell back on her pillow. "Vivi's just the tip of the iceberg. There's the guy in black, the door at the mansion that doesn't exist, the boy who knows my name, you-"

"Me?"

Xion pursed her lips and glared at the ceiling. "Yes, you. You've been acting so weird lately." Roxas sighed and looked down at his hands again. When he didn't say anything, Xion continued. "I know I'm one to talk about acting weird, but still. What is it you were going to ask me that day we went to the mansion? Roxas, I want to know." She sat up again looked to Roxas, who it seemed was trying to hide his face from her. His cheeks looked red, but maybe that was just the light of the sunrise.

"Xion, you… and me, um…" Roxas shook his head and stood up, walking toward the middle of the room. "It's really not important."

Xion shot him a glare. "Tell me the truth, Roxas."

"You still have this?" Roxas asked quietly, avoiding her inquisition. He picked up the thalassa shell necklace that Xion kept such good care of, rubbing his fingers over the polished blue and yellow. A nostalgic smile was tugging at his lips.

"_So Xion, where are you from?" Doctor Sweet asked in a deep but friendly voice. A twelve year old Xion tried to answer, but the thermometer in her mouth just made her words come out as gibberish. Sweet gave a good-natured laugh. "Really? I have family up that way. Beautiful view from the train station up there! We don't get that down at Sunset Terrace." He brought a stethoscope to her chest and listened to her heartbeat. "You do any fishin'? Me, I hate fishin'—I hate fish. Hate the taste, hate the smell, hate all of them little bones."_

_Sweet took the stethoscope and thermometer away and sat down on the nearby table. He was suddenly serious. "Now then, Xion. You just woke up from a nasty blackout. What's the last thing you remember?"_

"_I was in Gym class. We were running laps." Xion looked around at the sterile white walls, the small white blanket covering her, the silver door—anywhere she could to avoid Sweet. It wasn't that she distrusted him, she knew she could trust doctors, but still she had only just met him. "Next thing I know I'm waking up here."_

_Doctor Sweet nodded and wrote something down on his clipboard. He gave a smile and stood up to shake her hand. Xion took it with some hesitation. "I'm gonna go talk to your folks. You just get some rest for now, okay? We'll figure out what happened." He turned to the door, but before he could wrap his large hand around the doorknob it swung open from the outside. Wide, horrified blue eyes looked right past him—at Xion._

"_Roxas?"_

_"Xion! You're okay!" Roxas ran forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. His school uniform was soaked with sweat. Had he ran all the way to the hospital? "You… __**are**__ okay, right?"_

_"Y-Yeah. I think so."_

_Doctor Sweet laughed, causing both of the twelve year olds' heads to turn to him. "She'll be good with some rest. You her friend?"_

_Roxas pulled away from Xion and turned completely to face Doctor Sweet. "Yes sir. My name's Roxas."_

_"Take good care of her, kid. It's a man's job to protect their friends, isn't it?"_

_"Right…"_

"_Now Xion, like I said I'll be right outside. I'll leave you two alone." The door shut with a soft click, and Xion could see the silhouette of Doctor Sweet talking to her parents behind the curtains covering the window. _

"_Xion, I have something for you." Roxas reached into his pocket and pulled out a white box. Xion stared at it for a few seconds before reaching out and taking it from his hand._

"_A present? Roxas, you didn't need to get me anything."_

_"I wanted to." He shifted uncomfortably. "G-Go on, open it."_

_Nodding, Xion complied. Blue and yellow greeted her and Xion picked the gift up, holding it by the string. "A thalassa shell…"_

_"I-I know it's not much." Roxas looked away, his cheeks turning red. "But I wanted to get you something, and thalassa shells used to be made into charms to bring people home safe, so…"_

_"I love it."_

Fondly remembering that day, Xion stood up from her bed and walked over to Roxas. "Roxas, I wear it every day."

"W-Well, I never really noticed. But you're right." He handed the necklace to her and she put it on. "It looks good on you, Xion."

"Thanks… So, um, we're going up to the mountains, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I got a call from Olette before I came here. They're waiting for us at the train station."

"What, already? Roxas, why didn't you wake me up earlier?!"

"Sorry…"

"No, it's fine. I just need to get ready quickly…"

"I-I'll leave you alone to get dressed, then." Roxas turned around and opened the door, but he stopped in the doorway. "Oh. Are you packed? We're spending the night up there, remember."

Right. She needed to pack, too. Where was her bag? Xion frowned—there it was, sitting at the foot of her bed and full already. She didn't remember packing it… but then again, she didn't even remember coming home last night. "I guess I am."

"Okay. Oh, and one last thing. It snowed over night, so dress warm." Roxas shut the door behind him and Xion looked out the window where the roads were carpeted by white. Huh, so it had. She thought she'd be more excited for that. Pulling her pajamas off, Xion quickly got dressed and picked up her backpack. She pocketed her phone and wrapped her fingers around the thalassa shell. Her coat was sitting on the back of the chair by her desk, so Xion zipped that up and stepped outside.

Roxas was scratching Dodger's neck when Xion emerged from her room. "All set?"

"Yup." She ran a hand down Dodger's back. "Be good until Mom and Dad get home tonight, okay boy?"

"Dodger's a good dog," Roxas said with a laugh. "He won't get into any trouble." Dodger barked in affirmation, wagging his tail. "Why should you worry, Xion?"

"I guess I shouldn't. Come on Roxas, we don't want to keep them waiting."

"I'm right behind you." Roxas stood up and picked up his own brown coat from the arm of the couch while Xion put on some boots fit for snowy weather. "Quickest way is up Market Street, right?"

Xion froze. Market Street meant passing through that dark alley. She put on a brave face and smiled over her shoulder at Roxas. "Yeah, it is."

As they left the apartment and then the building, the cold winter wind assaulted Xion's face. She pulled up her hood and smiled at Roxas, who didn't have anything to cover his own head. Twilight Town in the winter time was always really pretty to Xion, but right now she couldn't focus on it—she was too busy thinking about the alleyway. Last time she had been there had not been an enjoyable experience. But as they approached it, both she and Roxas stopped. Yellow police tape blocked off the entrance, and a familiar white-haired man stood in front of it.

"Cecil?"

Officer Cecil Harvey looked over his shoulder. "Well, if it isn't Roxas and Xion. What are you two doing here?"

"We're going to the train station to ride up into the mountains," Xion said. "…What happened here?"

Cecil shook his head. "No one knows. The day before yesterday an incident was reported here, of a little boy being murdered—at least, that's what our records say. No one at the station actually remembers hearing people call in to report it. I was dispatched here and found out someone put up this police tape, but no one remembers doing that either."

"So, what did the report say the boy's name was?" Xion had a horrible feeling in her gut.

"I guess I can tell you since this all seems to be a big prank… The kid's name was apparently Vivi Ornitier. But we have no record of anyone in Twilight Town by that name."

Xion's breath caught in her throat and she was sure she visibly paled. Vivi… Not only did no one remember him, but now there was no record he existed? What kind of murderer _was_ that, and how was it that_ she_ still remembered Vivi?

Roxas's voice called Xion back out of her thoughts. "You okay, Xion? Vivi is the name of that kid you were talking about, wasn't it?"

"You know Vivi?" Cecil asked.

"Y-No, no I don't think so." Xion shook her head and grabbed Roxas's hand. "Come on, we need to go to the train station. We'll take another route; Cecil can handle this."

"Uh, sure… Nice seeing you, Cecil."

"You too. Have fun in the mountains."

Xion was silent as they walked up to the train station, with the only sound being the crunching of snow beneath her feet. She knew Roxas was watching her, but she didn't look back at him. What the hell was happening? It had all started that day they went to Kronk's, and everything was just spiraling downwards more and more.

However, those thoughts were shoved into the back of Xion's mind when they finally came to the Station Plaza and saw the smiling faces of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Olette waved them over and her excitement admittedly rubbed off on Xion, who found herself smiling alongside them. Xion thought she saw Roxas look relieved, but when she turned to face him he quickly switched to that toothy grin of his.

"Sorry, are we late?" Xion asked.

Pence shook his head. "Nope, you're just in time. The train's leaving in a few minutes."

"Then we _are_ late. I'm sorry, it's my fault."

Hayner crossed his arms. "Really, it's okay. We already bought all the tickets." He handed Roxas and Xion two slips of paper. Xion frowned and then immediately reached for her wallet. "You don't need to pay us." She looked up at Hayner, who motioned to Roxas. "Roxas supplied all the munny for the tickets."

"Roxas did?" Xion turned to her friend, who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "How did you get the munny for all of us?"

"Summer jobs. I've been holding on to my pay from delivering mail and putting up posters for months, just to make sure there was enough for all of us."

"Wow, you've been planning this a long time, haven't you?"

"I have, but… Well, to be honest I forgot until Olette had us start thinking of things to do a few days ago." Roxas flashed a smile at the brunette girl. "Thanks, Olette."

"Sure, no problem." The train whistled behind them, signaling it was almost time to leave. "We'd better get moving."

Hayner nodded. "Right. Wouldn't want to miss it after buying those tickets. Come on!"

With her problems pushed to the side for the time being, Xion followed her friends inside the station and boarded the train. The ride would be two hours and the cars were heated, so Xion pulled off her coat and sat down on one of the seats with her phone in one hand. They wouldn't have coverage when they got there, so it was bets to make sure nothing was wrong while she could. Roxas silently sat next to her and stared out the window as the train began moving.

She hoped they could always be together like this.

**x-x-x  
**

Braig was such a party pooper, Vanitas thought as he stood on the wall overlooking the Tram Common. The building that he had destroyed with Dark Link had been repaired like nothing had ever happened. And as far as the people of this town were concerned, nothing _had_ happened. When there was nothing showing data that something exists, there was nothing for data to remember that something with. Computers were stupid.

Vanitas stepped through a corridor and emerged in the Sandlot. He was growing restless without anyone to fight. Sora was still hiding like a coward, and he wanted – _needed_ – to bloody his hands. The all-encompassing fury of an Unversed was overtaking Vanitas. He had to sate the bloodlust, and he was all too happy to do it. He spotted a trio standing on the other end of the lot. They would do.

Vanitas recognized them as he walked forward and his mouth twisted into a sadistic smile beneath his mask. The leader of the trio, a blond guy in a beanie, turned to Vanitas and crossed his arms.

"What do you want? This is our turf, buddy."

"You're looking for your little pal, aren't you? 'Vivi', right?" Vanitas really did love little kids—they didn't leave much of a mess.

The boy shrugged. "What, again with this? It's like I told Xion, pal: I've never heard of this 'Vivi' guy." Just like the building. Nothing left to remember it, so you don't remember it. Vanitas burst into laughter. "Something funny?"

"I always find something to laugh about. Don't you?" Vanitas felt the magic crackling at his finger tips as he summoned his Keyblade, Void Gear. "Maybe you can help me out?"

"How?" The girl in their group asked, taking a defensive stance.

"Well, I'm getting a little stir-crazy waiting for those cowards to leave their hiding spot. Vivi wasn't enough for me." He raised his Keyblade up and watched as darkness began to coat it. "Why don't I take you to him… and you help me relieve some stress?"

Vanitas's vision went red. Oh, how he reveled in the screams.


	6. The Boy with Blue Eyes

_This chapter and the last one were originally going to be one chapter, but I felt like it went on a little too long so I split them up; though that does mean this one is a little bit short._

_By the way, we're about halfway through Twilight Town as of chapter 5._

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Boy with Blue Eyes**

"Xion…" Someone was nudging her shoulder, but the voice was far away. Xion mumbled incomprehensibly and pushed the offending hand away. "Xion, wake up."

"_She really is your Replica. You're both lazy bums!"_

"_Give us a break, Kairi!"_

"Xion, you gotta see this." The person was back and breaking her out of her beloved sleep. Xion curled her arms and legs up tightly, forming her body into a cozy little ball, and grunted as she shrugged to get rid of the hand on her shoulder.

"Five more minutes, Sora…" she mumbled, only half-awake.

"Who?"

That wasn't the voice she had been expecting. But she wasn't sure whose voice she had been expecting, really. Xion's eyes fluttered open in an unfamiliar location, with indigo walls and blue cushioned seats. Where was she? Oh, that's right—the train up to the mountains. How long had she been asleep? Too tired to turn her head, Xion opted to just look around in the area immediately in front of her. Olette sat across from her and was reading a book, while Hayner was snoring loudly and Pence was on his knees looking out the window behind their seat.

As for Roxas, if Xion remembered right he had been sitting next to her. But she was too comfortable to move her head and find him. A giggle from Olette caught Xion's attention, and she looked over to see the brunette glancing at her from behind her book.

"What?" Xion asked while stifling a yawn.

"Nothing," Olette replied, turning to the next page.

Xion shrugged and closed her eyes, trying to get some more rest before they arrived. "Where did Roxas go?"

"I never left." Roxas's voice was close by and he sounded like he was trying not to laugh. Xion's eyes snapped open and she tilted her head back to see Roxas smiling down at her.

Oh.

She wasn't sleeping on the seat cushion at all.

Xion pulled her head away from Roxas's shoulder and sat up straight. Across the aisle Olette was trying and failing to hide her laughter. "S-Sorry about that, Roxas."

Roxas shook his head and smiled. "Really, I didn't mind."

"Then why were you trying to wake me up if it wasn't to have me move?"

Roxas pointed past her, out the window. "That's why."

The train was chugging along slowly because of the snow, which meant that the scenery wasn't flying by in a blur. The mountain hills were coated in silver and white—a field of perfect, untouched snow as far as the eye could see. The pine trees making up the forest around them had layers of white on them and little frozen dew drops hanging off that sparkled in the sunlight. A thin stream snaked its way through the snow parallel to the train tracks, most of it frozen over save for the crack in the middle.

As the train continued along, the stream expanded to a frozen lake. A large deer was struggling across it, trying to reach its food or something in the middle, while two brown bears were trekking through the snow. The little one appeared to be annoying the large one, jumping around him constantly while the bigger bear kept looking on ahead.

"It's so pretty out here…" Xion turned to Roxas and smiled genuinely. "Thanks for waking me up for this, Roxas." Her friend smiled back, then turned away when Olette giggled again.

Pence turned around and sat down properly, gazing with approval at the camera in his hands. He must have gotten some nice pictures. Well, at least he'd be happy with his Christmas present. "So, what's the plan when we arrive?" he asked.

Olette marked her place in the book and closed it, placing it in her lap before speaking. "Well we have to check in first. Hayner got us reservations, I think."

"Hayner did?" Xion turned to look at the blond boy, who was rubbing his eyes sleepily. It seemed like the conversation had woken him up.

"Yeah," Hayner said with a nod. "My old man owed me some munny so I asked him to set up the rooms to make things even."

Wow. Just how much munny was he owed? "I feel bad just having you and Roxas pay for everything."

"Well, we can't afford all of it. Anything you want once we get there you're gonna have to pay for yourself."

"I'd like to try snowboarding once we're all settled in," Roxas said while looking at the mountains out the window. "It can't be that different from skateboarding, right?"

Xion laughed. "You said the same thing about surfing, and you remember how_ that_ turned out."

"The wave snuck up on me!" Everyone laughed at that, even Roxas, and during their laughter the train ended up pulling up to their stop. Pulling their coats on and gathering their bags, the group departed from the train. It wasn't a train station so much as a little wooden platform in the mountains, with a path of shoveled-away snow leading from it and up a hill to the ski lodge. As they walked the path Xion looked down to her right, where Twilight Town was just barely visible in the distance at the foot of a separate mountain.

The lodge was only two floors high but it was rather wide, taking up a good sized section of the cliff it sat on. It was made mostly of stone bricks, with wood for support and decoration. Artificial snow and icicles completed the appearance, giving it a cold feeling even on days it wasn't particularly snowy. Not that they had to worry about that today, though. They weren't the only ones there, either; visitors in parties of all sizes were walking up and down the snowy hills, or sitting inside the lobby Xion could see through the window.

Xion opened the glass doors and was met with heat from a fireplace. As the five of them entered, the first word that came to her mind to describe the lodge's lobby was 'cozy.' The inside walls were long wooden planks, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. All except for one wall, that is—the wall opposite the front door, which faced the cliff, was made completely out of glass. A door much like the one they had entered led out onto a wooden balcony that hung over the cliff. A fire was going in the corner of the room, surrounded by a few chairs and couches with a television mounted on the wall playing the news at low volume. A couple was sitting at a table and playing cards.

Hayner walked up to the check-in counter. The blond man standing at it, whose nametag identified him as Rin, was smiling brightly as Xion and her friends approached. "Hey, we've got a reservation for five students." Hayner pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket, which Rin took and checked.

"Ah, yes. I've been waiting for you." Xion couldn't place Rin's accent, but it sounded exotic. "An overnight stay, correct? Two rooms on the second floor are prepared for you and your friends already. Winter sports rentals are located around the side of the building." Rin reached below the desk and brought out two keys.

"Great." Hayner took the keys and handed one to Olette. "A room for us guys and a room for you girls."

Xion shook her head in disbelief. "Seriously, just how muchdid your dad owe you?"

"I dunno." Hayner shrugged. Come to think of it, Xion didn't really know a lot about Hayner's parents at all. Or any of her friends' except Roxas. And even then, she couldn't remember the last time she had actually seen his parents either. "Anyway, come on guys. I wanna get out on the slopes!"

"Already?" Olette shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other. "Don't you want to at least spend some time inside first? It's really nice in here."

"I can't sit around!"

"You can at least wait until we get ready." Olette took Xion's hand. "Come on, Xion. Let's go see what the room's like." With a nod, the two of them hurried up the polished wood staircase.

Xion could hear Hayner grumbling behind them, "But girls take _forever_ to get ready!" She spared a glance over her shoulder to see Roxas trying to calm Hayner, while Pence had gone out onto the balcony and was taking pictures.

"Has Hayner always been like this?" Xion asked as she caught up to Olette.

The other girl shrugged and put the key into the lock. "You've known him longer than I have, haven't you?"

Xion frowned as Olette opened the door and walked into the room. Had she? Huh.

Their room was, in contrast to the lobby, about as typical of a hotel room as you could get: a small bathroom immediately to her right, two beds, a TV, and a window looking out on the snow. Nothing fancy, which Xion supposed was how Hayner had been able to afford it after all. Still, that was fine. They were only going to be spending one night here anyway. Xion set her backpack down on one of the beds and looked out the window. She could see Hayner dragging Roxas and Pence out into the snow down below.

"Xion, I've been meaning to ask you something." Olette stepped up next to Xion and spoke as she looked out the window too. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Right now she was, at least.

Olette intertwined her fingers together nervously. "You've been acting strangely distant lately, and seeing things that aren't there—like when we were at the mall and you saw a boy I didn't see." Olette looked at her, but Xion was silent and turned her head to avoid Olette's gaze. "Who is Sora?"

Xion felt her face pale.

"_W-We're back!"_

"_You're home."_

_Bright eyes shined as he turned around and smiled at her, holding his hand out to help her up to her feet. Despite the saltwater coating her body, she was just as happy as him. "And you're home, too, Xion."_

"Where did you hear that name?"

"On the train. When you woke up, you called Roxas 'Sora'."

"…Did I?" Yeah, she remembered. She had. It was after that dream of the beach. "…I don't know who Sora is. At least, I don't _think_ I do."

Xion felt Olette's eyes drill holes into the back of her head, but eventually the brunette relented and sighed. "Well, let's worry about it later. Maybe you just need some time to get away from it all, which today and tomorrow are perfect for."

Xion turned to Olette and smiled. "Yeah. Now let's go before Hayner kills the others."

**x-x-x**

"I don't know about this anymore."

A short time later Xion stood next to Roxas at the top of a slope, gripping a rented snowboard tightly in her hands. The drop in front of them, despite assurances to the contrary, seemed impossibly steep. Xion took a cautious step backwards into the snow and glanced at her best friend. Roxas seemed nervous too, but when he noticed Xion looking at him he grinned and put his own board down in the snow.

"Come on, it's just like skateboarding only cold." Xion opened her mouth to retort, but Roxas quickly added, "Don't bring up the surfing incident."

Xion giggled. "Fine, I won't." She put her own board in the snow but didn't get ready like Roxas did. Seriously, she was starting to feel nauseous looking down at the mountain like this. Which was weird considering she looked down mountains every day, since Twilight Town was built on one. Maybe it was simply a fear of the unknown.

"Ready?" Roxas asked.

"I'm not so sure."

Xion felt him push a hand against her back. "What? I didn't quite catch that!"

"Roxas!" Xion shouted as he pushed her down the slope. Despite her surprise she caught her balance quickly enough, and boyish laughter caught up to her as Roxas appeared beside her on his board. "I'm going to kill you!"

"You have to catch me first!" Roxas called as he gained the lead. "See you at the bottom!"

Trees flew by her in a blur. Spots of color stood out amongst the snow as she continued down the mountain, which Xion figured must have been others skiing or snowboarding down. Yeah, that one in the green coat was definitely Hayner—or was it? For all she knew it could have been a small tree. He was certainly thin enough to be mistaken for one.

Xion's eyes widened at a snowdrift in front of her and she lurched left to avoid it. Unfortunately at the speed she was moving she couldn't quite get away from it in time, and as she turned away the back side of the board got caught in the snowdrift. Xion was flung face-first into the snow. She pushed herself up, wiping the flakes off her face and spitting half-solid water out of her mouth. Further down the slope she saw a mess of blond hair come to a stop as Roxas looked up at her.

"Are you okay?" His voice was muffled by the mountain winds.

"Only my pride's hurt," Xion called back to him. She climbed back onto the board and rode down to him quickly. Roxas's eyes widened as she rapidly approached, seemingly realizing what she was planning. He spun around and tried to flee, but Xion jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, tackling him into the snow. "Take that!"

"What's the big idea?" Roxas asked through laughter, pushing her off of him.

"That's for pushing me when I wasn't ready." Xion grabbed Roxas's arms and pinned him to the ground. "Say you're sorry," she said through a smile.

"Sorry you're a sore loser," Roxas said. She punched him in the shoulder with a laugh. Roxas sat up, grabbed her arms, and spun them so now he was pinning her. "Looks like I win." Then he grew strangely quiet, his eyes looking downcast.

"…Roxas, are you okay?"

"Actually…" Roxas took in a deep breath and relaxed his grip on her arms. "There is something I've been meaning to ask you." He rubbed the back of his head and looked away, frowning awkwardly. "Xion, we've been friends a long time, and I guess… Would you like to, um...with me…" He grimaced. "Never mind."

Xion could feel her cheeks heating up. "Roxas, it sounds to me like-"

Roxas cut her off. "Hey, do you want to build a snowman? We promised that day in the forest, remember?"

Xion frowned. Obviously that wasn't what he was originally going to ask, but still she climbed up to her feet. "Yeah, we did. I'd love to."

Roxas picked up a handful of snow as he stood up too. "I haven't done this in years, where do we start?"

"Here, like this." Xion took the snow from his hand and rolled it up into a ball. She swept away a section of snow from the ground and planted the ball on the grass beneath it. Following Xion's lead, Roxas picked up more snow and made a smaller ball. Awkward laughter rose from both teens as they continued working on the snowman. They were both clearly out of practice, because it was far from the best one they had ever seen. The head was much more of an oval than the two snowballs beneath it, with a strange pear-shape effect going on near the top. It was short, too; they had underestimated how much snow they'd need. Still, despite that they had fun working on it. Xion enjoyed feeling like a little kid playing in the snow again.

"It's…something else, alright," Roxas said with a chuckle as he admired their work.

"He needs a nose," Xion said thoughtfully. The head looked weird without a carrot sticking out of it.

"I don't have anything on me." Roxas said as he walked over to the edge of the nearby forest and picked two twigs off from the ground. He returned to stick them into the side of the snowman.

Xion blinked. With that and the rocks she was adding on front, this snowman looked oddly familiar to her. She could almost swear she had seen it somewhere before. "Olaf?" The word came unbidden from her mouth.

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing. Not sure where that came from." A chill wind blew and Xion hugged herself, shivering. She looked up to see the orange sky was turning purple as the sun began to set below the horizon. Roxas stepped up next to her and Xion found herself shuffling a little closer to him. "I know we've seen a lot of sunsets, but today's puts them all to shame." She smiled as the last bit of light gave way to darkness. "If only things could stay like this forever..."

They stood there for a good while longer before Roxas put a hand on Xion's shoulder. "Hey, it's getting late. Let's head back."

"Yeah." All good things must come to an end.

**x-x-x**

The lobby was drowned in laughter as Xion and Roxas listened to Pence's story about what he, Hayner, and Olette had been doing while the two of them were on the slope. "And then Hayner falls down right on top of her, in the middle of the crowd!" Xion broke out laughing again at her friends' bright red faces.

"Sounds like you guys had fun today," a familiar voice said. Xion turned to the table where that couple from before was still playing cards. Her eyes widened in recognition of Terra Branford. How had she not noticed her there before? Sitting across from Terra was a man with long silver hair and wearing a black and yellow coat.

"Terra! When did you get here?"

"Last night," she said with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you kids here, though." The man across from her coughed to bring attention to himself and Terra chuckled. "Oh, this is my friend-"

"Ohmigosh, it's Setzer!" Olette practically screamed and jumped up from her seat. Xion had heard that name before, but where?

"Setzer?" Hayner looked at him with wide eyes. "As in Setzer Gabbiani, the Struggle champ?"

"I see my reputation precedes me," Setzer said while flashing a toothy smile. "Was that Struggle match really so amazing?"

"Absolutely!"

While Hayner and Olette proceeded to freak out at Setzer, Xion turned to Roxas and asked quietly, "Who?"

Roxas stared at her in shock before a solemn look crossed his face. "It was during last summer's Struggle, when you were asleep. Setzer won the final match in ten seconds flat."

Setzer must have heard their conversation, because he turned to face Xion. "My opponent's life was a chip in my pile, and it was time to ante up." Xion stared at the man with interest. Olette never really cared for Struggle beyond cheering her friends on, but Xion could see what she was so excited about. He was certainly a handsome man, though something about him looked cold. He only seemed open when looking at Terra.

Speaking of the older woman, Xion needed to talk to her. She walked over to the blonde, who motioned for her to pull up a chair and sit down. "What is it, Xion?"

"I just wanted to thank you for stopping that fight the other day."

"Fight?"

"Don't be modest, Terra. You really helped us out before things got violent with Seifer's gang."

Terra shook her head. "Xion, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anyone named Seifer."

Despite the fireplace nearby them, Xion suddenly felt ice cold. Faces were looking at her with confusion and worry, and Xion brought a hand up to her head. "It's just like with Vivi…"

"Come again?" Setzer asked.

"Nothing. I…I need to be alone right now." Xion stood up so quickly she nearly knocked over her chair. She moved without looking at anyone, passing by her concerned friends and out the backdoor. The air of a cold winter night met her as she leaned against the wooden railings of the balcony. Now Seifer was forgotten alongside Vivi. Fuu and Rai probably were as well. Who would disappear next? Or had they really never existed? "What is _wrong_ with me?"

"Nothing is."

Xion crossed her arms on the railing and buried her face in them. "Leave me alone, Roxas. I don't want this right now."

"Sorry, not him." Xion spun around, eyeing the boy standing in the shadows carefully. Blue eyes, brown hair, black clothes—suddenly it all came flashing back to her, every time she had seen him in the last week.

Xion stumbled backwards, gripping her head and clenching her eyes shut. "Are you…Sora?"

The boy's face beamed. "Do you remember now?!"

"I don't…think so? Obviously we've met, but…"

Sora sighed and walked up next to her, leaning against the railing. "I see…"

"Who are you really?"

"I can't tell you a lot. Braig's watching us."

"Braig?" Sora smiled softly and shook his head. Xion groaned in exasperation. "Well, what _can_ you tell me?"

"We're all waiting for you to come home."

"Home?"

"Xion… Do you remember your true identity?"

Xion narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm Xion."

"No, that's not what I mean. Xion, listen. Four months ago you woke up here, right? But think hard: what about before that? Xion, this whole town is-" Sora's voice was cut off and he was standing frozen solid. Xion waved a hand in front of him but he didn't react—didn't even move his eyes.

"What? Hey..." Xion leaned in closer, investigating the boy. He was like a statue.

Then he started fading.

**x-x-x**

After Terra and Setzer left the lobby, Roxas sighed and looked at Xion standing alone out on the balcony. He stared down at his hands with a grimace.

"You okay?" Olette asked next to him through a bite of ice cream. "Your ice cream's melting."

Roxas looked at the bowl sitting on the table in front of him and pushed it away. "Hey, Olette…can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Roxas shook his head and groaned again. "What do you think Xion would like for Christmas?" He sounded so stupid right now.

Olette pursed her lips and tapped her spoon against her bowl in thought. "I think that's something you'll need to ask her yourself, Roxas."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"And besides, isn't there something else you want to ask her too?" Olette winked and Roxas was sure his face turned red. "The two of you aren't very good at hiding it."

"I…" Roxas shook his head and stood up. "Yeah, you're right. I'll be right back." He turned to the glass wall, intending to talk to Xion, but stopped. She was talking to someone he didn't recognize, a boy. Who was that? Wait… Blue eyes and dressed in black. The boy from the rumors?

Roxas felt his fist clench tightly. Ever since the rumors started up, Xion seemed to be more depressed. Who was this kid and what did he want with her?

**x-x-x**

His vision was flooded with blue.

"What happened?" Sora asked, suddenly finding himself in the System Sector. "I was just with Xion a moment ago."

"Braig found you and froze the program," Tron said. "I pulled you out of there before anything could happen."

"Xion… I didn't get a chance to tell her anything!"

"Don't worry, you will soon. I need a little time to set up a program to prevent Braig and Vanitas from finding you, but then you'll have all the time in the world." Tron paused in thought and walked over to Sora, embracing him in a tight hug. Sora stared awkwardly at the older man.

"Um..."

"You'll see her real soon. Just be patient."


	7. No One Knows Me Better Than Me

**Chapter 7: No One Knows Me Better Than Me**

Sora was gone, just like that. Xion stared at the empty space that he had occupied only a few seconds before and stepped backwards. Had she been imagining him? No…he had really bed there; he had been standing right in front of her. Something strange was going on, but what else was new? Xion turned to look through the window at the inside of the lodge, where all of her friends were. They were just as frozen as Sora had been. Were they going to disappear, too?

Xion took a step toward the door and felt something strange in the air, like a chill—which wasn't really strange considering where they were, but still Xion felt suddenly colder than she had a moment ago. The world seemed to ripple and distortions appeared around Xion as she took another step forward, clutching her head. When the distortions halted the door in front of her opened slowly. Xion looked up in alarm, worried of an attacker, only to find a concerned face framed by messy blond hair.

"Xion, who was that guy you were talking to?"

Xion said nothing and moved right past Roxas, intending to head up the stairs and into her and Olette's room. Roxas's hand took hers, his fingers holding her with a gentle firmness, and Xion stopped.

"Xion, you can't just keep things inside. What's wrong?"

_Where do I even start? _"I don't want to worry you…" Xion muttered, pulling away from Roxas's grip. She pulled the hood of her jacket up to isolate herself and hurried up the stairs, her feet tapping against the polished wood steps. Behind her she could hear the worried voices of her friends talking among themselves, though she couldn't make words out. Never slowing down, Xion moved down the hall to the room and fumbled for the keys in her pocket. Her hand was shaking as she inserted it into the lock, and she actually missed more than once.

After hearing the click of the door unlocking Xion flung it open and moved inside, kicking her shoes off unceremoniously. She didn't even make it to the beds before dizziness overtook her and she leaned her back against the wall, breathing in heavily as she gripped at her chest.

"My heart…hurts…" Xion groaned. She slid down the wall and sat on the carpeted floor. Her breathing was heavy and erratic as she gulped for air and sweat began to trickle down her cheeks and dampen her brow. She could only assume that all this stress was finally taking its toll on her physically. Roxas was right; keeping things bottled up wasn't good for her. "Maybe I should go back downstairs and talk to them…" But despite her decision to do so, her body disagreed. Xion's legs wouldn't move, and as she glared down at them as if that would get her feet going her hands began to shake again.

Why was it so cold? A lodge in the mountains should have better heating than this. Xion rubbed her arms, both to warm herself up and to stop the shaking. Her breathing had evened out somewhat, but that was the only thing that had calmed down.

A howling sound blew through the room and made Xion freeze up. Slowly she looked to the source of the noise, only to relax when it became evident it was simply the wind blowing in through the open window. Willing her legs to work, Xion climbed up to her feet. Vertigo washed over her but she nonetheless moved forward to the window and closed it shut. Maybe that would help the temperature somewhat.

Xion was about to turn around when she saw a figure standing in the snow. "Sora?" She looked closer and the figure tilted his head upwards, looking right at Xion—looking at her despite the black mask. Xion gasped and stumbled backwards, tripping over a bag on the ground and falling onto her back. It was him, the one in black and white. He was here. He saw her.

"Xion?" Xion stiffened at the sound of someone calling her voice, but knocking on the door and the concerned tone told her it was only one of her friends.

"Yeah?" she asked, standing up and using the nearby bed for support.

"We just want to make sure you're okay." It sounded like Pence on the other side of the door.

Xion sighed and looked down at her shaking hands. No, she _wasn't_ okay. But what could she tell them about the things she had been seeing? She inhaled deeply before replying to Pence. "I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight."

There was a prolonged silence on the other side of the door. Xion knew why; it wasn't exactly an answer to his question. "Okay," he said at last. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." She listened as Pence's footsteps grew quieter while he walked back down the hall, and let out a breath when they disappeared entirely. Then Xion turned back to her problems. The vertigo and heartache were gone, and she wasn't quite as cold, but still she felt a chill and still her hands were shaking. _I need a way to calm down…to just take a deep breath and think things through…_

A shower sounded really good right now.

Xion made her way into the small bathroom by the room's door. Small, but she didn't need anything fancy. Locking the white door behind her Xion turned the water on as hot as it could go without burning her and started getting undressed. Xion narrowed her eyes at her white top; it was completely soaked. Had she been sweating that much, even when chilled? Once again, Xion decided bottling up all her worries was not helping her body. But what was she supposed to do? Her friends would only think she was crazy if she tried talking to them. Sora maybe? Sure, if she could find him.

Xion stood under the running water for a long time, alone with only her thoughts.

**x-x-x**

"You've been to see her?"

Braig's voice came out of nowhere—there was no swirling sound of a corridor of darkness and no crunching of snow beneath his footsteps. But then, Vanitas had expected that. Unlike him, Braig was only projecting himself into this world and not physically inside it. He didn't interact with the world quite like Vanitas did; he was more like a ghost.

Vanitas turned from the window that Xion had shut and looked over to Braig smirking under the moonlight. "She looks a lot like me," he said simply.

"…How?" Braig voice was filled with genuine confusion, his smirk fading.

Vanitas placed a hand on his mask, glaring at the white leather separated by black glass. He considered pulling the mask off but decided against it, opting instead to look back over his shoulder at the window. "We're both just mirrors of someone else with black hair, aren't we?"

"Well I suppose when you put it like that…" Braig shrugged. "But man, we seem to find a lot of mirrors and doppelgangers in our lives, right? As if you're anything special."

"I know that."

Braig crossed his arms. "Anyway, get out here for tonight."

"Why?"

"Didn't you see her reaction to you a few minutes ago, man? Little Poppet is terrified of you—yeah getting her heart racing is nice and all, but work a heart too much and things go south." His smirk came back. "Or do you just get off on scaring little girls?"

A little from column A, a little from column B. Not that Vanitas would ever tell Braig that and give him the satisfaction of being right. Besides, there was a column C, too. "I was feeding."

"Feeding?" A single golden eye narrowed, and then Braig chuckled in realization. "Oh, right; you're an Unversed now, aren't you? Anger, fear, despair—they're your bread and butter." Vanitas acknowledged Braig by looking back at him, but he didn't say anything. "Speaking of Unversed, how's it going for you?"

Right…

Vanitas looked down at his hands and clenched them into fists as darkness began to swirl around his body. His shadow extended in two directions, becoming a ring that wrapped around him and Braig. Throughout it all Braig stood with no emotion or acknowledgement save for a toothy smile.

The shadows twitched as little black wisps lifted up from the ground. The darkness coalesced into a ball, shifted color to blue, and then flew toward Braig, taking on a new appearance as it did so: a little blue creature with four limbs and red eyes. The Flood vanished before it ever reached Braig and Vanitas felt a twinge of pain in his chest. He leaned over and relaxed his clenched fingers as the darkness flowed back into him and his shadow returned to normal.

"Eleven years I've been trying, and I still can't create Unversed like I used to." He stood up straight but continued to stare at his open palms.

"But…?" Braig was prodding him on.

"But I am getting closer. The negativity recently has been stronger. I just need a little bit longer…"

"I don't really see the point," Braig said while scratching the back of his head. "Why do we bother with the Unversed when Xion's almost ready to make the χ-blade anyway?"

"It never hurts to have a backup." Vanitas held his left hand out and opened a corridor of darkness. On the other side was Braig – the real Braig – sitting at a computer in a dark room with blue walls, with multiple screens before him. Braig pressed a key and the digital projection of himself on one of the screens vanished. Vanitas leaned against the wall with his arms crossed before speaking. "What about you? Have you found Xehanort's Heartless?"

Braig spun his chair around leisurely. "Nope, no sign of Riku yet. The guy's been MIA since everything went down at the World That Never Was."

Vanitas grimaced behind his mask. Back then, on that day, he had actively encouraged Riku to purge himself of the darkness, else he risk of his existence fading away to be replaced by 'Ansem'—and that wasn't a lie. Ansem would take over sooner or later, though it wasn't really out of any concern for Riku that Vanitas had proposed it.

"I had hoped we'd find and kill the Heartless soon after Xemnas died," Braig said, echoing Vanitas's own thoughts. "Getting rid of Riku won't work?"

"No. Either Riku purges the Heartless from his heart, or the Heartless takes over and then we kill him. It won't work if it's Riku who vanishes. Riku isn't a part of Xehanort."

Braig leaned back and crossed his legs. "How do you even know this will work?"

"Call it a hunch." He _didn't _know. Vanitas was far from an expert on Nobodies, and he had admitted as such. "But if a heart and body that have both faded into darkness meet…what happens then? I think we'll both be pleased."

**x-x-x**

Morning came too quickly. Xion groaned and sat up in bed, covering her eyes from the sunlight coming through the window. She still felt a little light-headed, but overall things were much better than they were last night. Climbing out of bed and getting dressed, Xion caught sight of something sitting on the little white table between hers and Olette's beds.

'_Xion—_

'_It's 7 when I'm writing this. You look exhausted, and after last night I decided it's probably best not to wake you. Take all the time you need and sleep in. We'll send someone back every hour or two to check up on you, just to be safe. When you wake up feel free to come out and join us._

'_We're all really worried about you, Xion. Please tell us what's wrong._

'—_Olette'_

Xion looked up at the clock—1 PM. She'd been sleeping half the day already, and after Hayner and Roxas had done so much to set this trip up. "I'm an idiot," she muttered, walking over to the door and putting her shoes on. "As long as I just sit around they're wasting their munny on me." Standing up after tying them tight, Xion opened the door and found herself facing a very surprised Roxas.

"Oh. Hey." Roxas's hand was raised like he had been just about to knock. "It was my turn to check up on you. How are you feeling?"

Xion shifted her weight from one foot to the other and smiled softly. "Better than last night at least…"

"But still not quite right, huh?" Roxas sighed and put a hand on Xion's forehead, surprising her. "You don't have a fever. Xion…Pence thinks whatever is wrong is psychological. We all know something's wrong. I keep asking you what and you keep pulling away. Please, just tell me."

Xion took in a deep breath and leaned against the door frame. "I'm…seeing things." Roxas tilted his head slightly, urging her to continue. "People in masks, or that door that didn't exist at the mansion. I'm remembering people no one else knows—Vivi, Seifer, Fuu and Rai." Xion shook her head. She could feel tears welling up. "Roxas…do you think I'm going crazy?"

"No way," Roxas said, putting his hands on Xion's shoulders. "Xion, look at me." She complied, locking her eyes with his. "We can get through this. We'll figure out what's wrong—we'll go see Doctor Sweet."

Xion groaned. Doctor Sweet was out of town for the holidays, visiting family. "You believe me that those things exist—or existed?"

"I… I don't know what to believe. But I _do_ know you aren't crazy. I can promise you that much."

Xion suddenly lurched forward, embracing Roxas tightly and catching both him and herself by surprise. "Thank you." A dizzying feeling came back to her then and Xion stumbled, losing her balance and leaning into Roxas more.

"Xion? Hey, Xion!"

**x-x-x**

He should have known bringing her up here was a mistake.

Roxas kneeled over an unconscious Xion, trying to shake her awake. She had suddenly collapsed out of nowhere, yet another worrying thing to add to the growing list. Hearing footsteps behind him, Roxas turned to see Setzer and Terra approaching from the lobby. The two of them stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing Xion on the ground.

"What happened?!" Terra gasped, running over and kneeling down beside Roxas.

"I-I don't know Xion had been acting strange all week, and slept in a lot today, and now she just fell down!"

Terra placed a hand to Xion's neck and Roxas held his breath. "I'm not a doctor, but her heart rate seems really high. You said she's been strange all week?"

"Yeah. She's been seeing things and people that aren't there, and last night I saw this guy with brown hair talking to her. After he left she seemed really out of it."

"She needs to see a doctor," he heard Setzer say. There was a brief moment of silence before he continued in an annoyed tone, "No reception up here."

Roxas pursed his lips and stood up, grabbing Xion as he climbed up to his feet. "When my friends get back, can you apologize to them for me?"

"For what?" Terra asked.

"For leaving early." Roxas supported Xion on his shoulder. It wasn't exactly the best way to hold her but there wasn't much else he could do. "I'm taking Xion home."

"By yourself?" Setzer asked as he pocketed his phone.

Doctor Sweet's words from their first meeting echoed in Roxas's head: _"It's a man's job to protect their friends, isn't it?"_

"Yes."

Roxas felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at a smiling Terra. "You're a good kid, Roxas. We'll tell your friends."

"Thanks. Well, I guess I should go… Um…" He could hold Xion up like this fine, but walking through the snow? That was another story.

"Let me help." Setzer moved over to the two of them and picked Xion up. Roxas fought him – he was supposed to be the one helping her! – but the man proceeded to place the unconscious girl on Roxas's back with her arms wrapped around his neck. "Not very gentlemanly I'm afraid, but much easier to handle."

"…Thanks."

**x-x-x**

_Well, there was nowhere else to run now. After a chase throughout Twilight Town she had finally been cornered, trapped in the empty lot in a little corner of the Tram Common. Hearing footsteps behind her, she stood up straight and pulled her hood down before turning to the boy with sorrow in her eyes._

"_Xion. Where have you been?" Roxas stepped up to her, his black coat brushing against his legs as he walked. "Axel and I have been looking all over for you."_

_Xion looked down at the ground to avoid Roxas's own sad eyes. "You have? Sorry."_

"_Let's go home," Roxas said in a pleading tone. "If you come back voluntarily, Saïx will let all this drop. He has to." Xion was silent, replying by tilting her head to the ground. "I don't care what he said to you. I'll be there." Roxas smiled and held a gloved hand out. "Me and Axel will make sure-"_

_Xion stepped away, her heeled boots clicking against the stone ground. When Roxas gasped Xion's frown deepened and she shook her head, bringing a hand to her chest. "I really can't."_

"_Why not? Come on…" Sora reached for Xion's shoulder and Xion took another step backwards from the brunet. He stared at her in silence while Xion went through a variety of emotions – despair, mostly, but also a bit of self-loathing and even jealousy – before turning away and walking off._

"_Wait!" Sora called after her and grabbed her wrist. Xion's fingers twitched and she called her Keyblade, Two Become One. The black and white sword was leveled at Sora's face while Xion continued to avoid looking at him, and she felt his grip on her wrist release._

_A whooshing sound caught Xion's attention and she held up the Keyblade to block a red and silver chakram as it flew through the air. The spiked wheel rebounded off her weapon and dug into the ground before vanishing into flames. Xion and Sora both turned to the newcomer, who was walking toward them._

"_Well, hello there…Xion." Axel called out._

_Xion charged at Axel, ignoring Sora's "No, wait!" behind her. He ducked under the swing of her Keyblade and formed a wheel of fire in his hand that formed into a chakram, and then swung it upwards. Their weapons met and Xion jumped away, then ran right back at him._

_Vanitas jumped out of Xion's reach with a laugh, sailing past Sora who was looking around at the two of them with confusion as they fought. Vanitas landed on the ground and crouched low as darkness swirled around his Keyblade. He pointed it forward and fire a burst of black magic at her, which Xion would have reflected had Sora not chosen that moment to interrupt their battle._

"_Stop!"_

_Xion turned to look at her friend and got a blast of darkness to the head for her troubles. The darkness surged through her body and Xion felt her limbs go numb, but she was still conscious. Vanitas's powerful hand wrapped tightly around her neck and pinned her to the wall. "No escape this time."_

**x-x-x**

"Stop it, let me go!" Xion cried out in horror. Then she stopped and looked around at her surroundings in confusion. "What…?"

"Hey, easy there." Xion looked over her shoulder to see Roxas walking down the aisle. Except for the two of them the train was empty. "I put you on a bench alone so you could have room to sleep, but thrashing around like that isn't going to help." He sat down next to her. "It was just a dream, whatever it was."

"Why are we on the train?" The last thing Xion remembered was opening the door to her hotel room and finding Roxas, then suddenly waking up here. Had they even talked? How much time had passed?

"You fell unconscious in the middle of the hall," Roxas explained in a quiet voice. "And I decided it was best to bring you home. Terra and Setzer promised to tell Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

"Oh…" Xion twined her fingers together. "Sorry I ended up making you waste money, Roxas."

"It wasn't a waste."

Xion didn't reply, instead leaning her head against the wall of the car and listening to the train ride along the tracks. Outside the snow and ice were still just as pristine and beautiful as they had been on the way up, but Xion didn't really care for them this time. Her mind was in other places.

"_Four months ago you woke up here, right? But think hard: what about before that? Xion, this whole town is-"_

_What was it he was going to tell me? _It was almost like he was saying she wasn't here before four months ago. But that was crazy. She had memories of her entire life here in Twilight Town, growing up alongside Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. She had memories of her parents, of Doctor Sweet, of Kronk, of Seifer's gang. There were important ones and insignificant ones, like the first day of Freshman year when Roxas and Hayner had gotten in trouble for…for…for what? What was it they had gotten in trouble for?

Okay, well, that wasn't important. What about when Olette won those tickets to Disney Town? They had all gone that week, and Xion's favorite ride was…was…

…It was like she only knew a summary of her life before four months ago. Why didn't she remember anything clearly?

Xion felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Roxas. "Xion. Are you okay?" She gave Roxas a look and he looked down at his feet, grimacing. "Hey, listen…who's that brown-haired kid? Is he hurting you somehow? Is he behind this?"

"Sora? No! He's… I _think_ he's my friend."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You 'think'?" His inquisitive tone was harsh.

"Just drop it, Roxas. Okay?" _Please._

They sat in silence for a while longer, the only sound the bumping of the train against the tracks. Xion glanced at Roxas, guilty for snapping at him when he was only looking out for her, but at the same time she could just tell Sora wasn't behind this. Even though they had barely met, even though she just learned his name the night before, something about him was…familiar. Calming.

Roxas finally broke the oppressive silence when they were almost back at the clock tower. Twilight Town's orange buildings were rushing by them as he spoke. "Hey, Xion… What do you want, you know, for Christmas?"

Xion started. Christmas Even was _tomorrow_, wasn't it? And she didn't have anything for Roxas, either. "I guess…" She didn't know. How could she? She had barely thought of the holidays in the last week, since there were more important things going on. "…I guess that our friends are always together."

Roxas was silent in reply, save for the smile curling in the corner of his mouth.

**x-x-x**

It was snowing in Twilight Town. Atop the clock tower, Sora held a hand out and caught a snowflake, frowning slightly as it melted in his palm. Next to him Tron was trying his first taste of ice-cream.

"Users come up with the most wonderful things, don't they?"

Sora let out a good-natured chuckle. "You really haven't had ice cream before?"

"Never. Even when I left the System Sector to come into town, I haven't really lived like a User would." He took another bite of the blue bar and smiled. "Though now I may just start."

A whistle caught Sora's attention and he turned his head to the oncoming train. "Xion's aboard that," Tron said from behind him.

"Xion is?" Sora grew silent and watched as the train pulled into the station, leaving his sight. "…Tron, how are we supposed to fix her without Naminé?"

"It's a simple rewrite of her source code. When she leaves this world she should be fine."

Sora bristled and turned to face Tron. "'Source code'? Xion isn't a program!"

Tron shook his head. "When she's in this world, she is. Same as you. We programs are only what our codes define us as." He pulled up a screen and passed it to Sora, who took it with curiosity. The image on the screen was of a cartoony computer with a blue smiling face above it. A stick figure typed something, and then the face turned angry and red. "Our memories, our personalities—they can all be altered like it's nothing. But when Xion returns to flesh and blood, she should remember everything."

Sora closed the screen. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. If nothing else, you can be sure of that. Now…" He stood up and opened a Backdoor. "I should finish working on that program that will hide you from Braig. It should be done by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow…"

One way or another, no matter the outcome, tomorrow was Sora's last day in this world.


	8. Imaginary Numbers

**Chapter 8: Imaginary Numbers**

When Xion woke up that next morning, her parents weren't home—and, given the rather terrifying revelation she had on the train the day before, Xion wasn't sure if they had truly _ever _been home. She couldn't actually picture them at all, and the implications of that were... Well, she didn't want to think about it. So after feeding Dodger Xion had left the apartment without a word and without taking her phone; she didn't want to talk to anyone, just to be alone. Some Christmas Eve this was turning out to be.

Her aimless wanderings through the snowy Twilight Town lasted a few hours until she found herself at the Tram Common. Most businesses were down for the holidays, but one little restaurant near the Sandlot was open. Kronk welcomed Xion with open arms, though he was surprised that she came alone. Xion had just ordered a glass of water and sat down at a table in the corner. Now she rested her head in her crossed arms which in turn lay on the table.

Xion chuckled weakly. "Where did I think I could go? What a joke…" She turned her head to look out the window at the white and orange city, her hand traveling to the thalassa shell as she did so. It wasn't like she could just open a door to another world and escape all of her problems.

"You okay there Xion?" A booming yet caring voice came from the kitchen. Kronk poked his head out the door leading to the back of the restaurant. It was the first time he had spoken since bringing her the water, though she had caught him watching her with concern a few times before.

"Mm," Xion grunted. It wasn't a real answer, but Xion didn't have it in her to lie anymore. How many times in the last week had she answered that question? Whatever the number was, it was too much. For any of her friends they would have pressed the question immediately, but Kronk he didn't know just how odd things concerning Xion had been lately. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or disappointed that he didn't continue to ask, but she kept quiet regardless.

With her fingers around her thalassa shell, Xion continued to stare out the window. There were only a handful of people outside, nothing like the usual crowds that flooded the Tram Common. Of course, there was no question about where everyone was: at home with friends and family. Xion clutched the shell tighter and took in a deep breath. She knew that her friends would be looking fro her, especially Roxas since he'd be the first to go to her apartment. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see them or not. If her memories before four months ago were lies, what else was? Were they even really friends? Did Roxas even really care about her?

Footsteps approaching her pulled Xion out of her moping for the moment. Kronk put a large bowl of ice cream on the table in front of her—vanilla, sea-salt, and chocolate with all types of toppings. Xion looked up at Kronk with confusion, and the man was smiling gently.

"No one needs to be sad on the holidays, right?" he asked while sticking a spoon into the ice cream. "I know you didn't ask for it, but I also know you kids love ice cream."

Xion's hand moved to her pocket, but it was empty. "Kronk, I don't have my wallet. I can't afford-" He held a hand up, cutting her off.

"Consider it a Christmas present, Xion. From one friend to another."

"…Thank you." Friends, huh… Kronk's actions had calmed her nerves more than he probably realized. Surely if he was genuine, then Roxas and the others were too. But that still didn't answer the problem of what exactly it was that happened four months ago to mess up her memories.

Four months ago was also the time she was in that three-week-long coma and missed all of summer vacation. The day after she had woken up they had all gone to the beach together, and the picture from that day still hung in hers and Roxas's rooms. Was that it? Was it simply that coma that had messed with her head? Maybe, but Xion wasn't sure…

She poked at the ice cream but never ate more than a few small bites. Compared to yesterday, she felt a lot better today. There was still a bit of a nauseous dizziness in her head, but her hands weren't shaking beyond her control and she wasn't as freezing cold—though she did still wear her coat indoors, but that was mostly because she hadn't bothered to take it off.

A ringing bell near the front of the building signaled that someone had opened the door. From her position Xion couldn't see who it was that had entered, but the short conversation with Kronk was enough to tell her it wasn't one of her friends.

"What'll it be, kid?"

"Actually, I'm looking for- Aha."

Xion once again heard footsteps approaching her, but this time they were too light to be Kronk's. The newcomer was here to see her? He slid into the seat facing her and Xion looked up to meet him. One elbow sat on the table, propping his chin up with his hand.

"Your ice cream's melting."

"Sora…?"

"Hey." Sora lowered both arms onto the table. "How are you feeling?"

Xion raised a hand to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "Confused, mostly. Dizzy. There's a dull ache in my chest. But…"

"But?" Sora's brown spikes swayed as he tilted his head.

"But it's lightening up now, just in the last minute or so. It's a noticeable difference." She set the spoon down in the bowl and pushed the sundae aside. "Sora, I need you to tell me everything. Please."

He nodded. "I can. No secrets, no lies."

"Then please tell me what's wrong with me." She rested her hands on the table and stared down at them. "I imagine part of it is the stress starting to eat at my body, but that can't be all of it. I have a feeling you know." Xion looked up at him with pleading eyes.

Sora was silent for a while. He stared out the window, or down at the table, or at the ceiling. Every now and then he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, only for it to snap shut and for him to shake his head. Finally, after a dramatic sigh, the boy spoke.

"You and I are connected. We can't live without each other."

Xion narrowed her eyes and frowned. "Don't flirt with me. I'm serious."

Sora wildly waved his hands in front of him, trying to dismiss Xion's claim. "No, I'm not flirting! I mean we _literally_ can't live without each other. Look…when you're active you get exhausted really quickly, don't you?" Xion stared at Sora. How could he possibly know that? When he looked up at her evidently waiting for an answer, Xion nodded slowly. "I'm the same. And the reason for that is because of things we can't control, half of my power is inside you. So we have to learn to live with it."

Her life force was split in half? But that's… Well, it explained why she didn't feel so weak suddenly once Sora arrived, but it sounded like something right out of a fantasy novel. It was ridiculous. And yet she almost believed it. "So, how did that happen?"

"It's…a long story and I don't even know all of it myself." Sora leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "But I got split into two people once. And then the power of the second person went into you."

That was even more unbelievable, but still Xion replied. "So have you come to take it back?" Maybe she came across more cold than she intended with that question, because Sora flinched back and rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"No. I never blamed you for it, Xion. Neither of us could control what happened; it is what it is." He picked up the spoon in the half-melted bowl of ice cream and twirled it around, mixing vanilla with sea-salt. "But it means we need to stay close together or else we get weak."

"I think I understand that much, but…" Xion looked out the window. It had started snowing again, and she watched as snowflakes landed on the glass only to melt immediately. Life was really fleeting, wasn't it? She still had so many questions for Sora, too. "…Sora, what's happening to me? I remember places and people that aren't here, and I have memories of things that never happened while things that did happen are so blurry." She turned back to him. His face was solemn. "Am I going crazy?"

Sora looked like he didn't know what to say; or rather, he had the answers he was looking for but didn't want to say them. Still messing with the ice cream, Sora cut the scoop of chocolate in half and sighed deeply. "…This town was never meant to exist, Xion."

A chill ran down Xion's spine. It wasn't the way Sora had said that that so much that bothered her – he said it with regret and sadness, like even saying it made him depressed – but the very fact that those words left Sora's lips made Xion's fears suddenly boil up to the surface. Now she was questioning even more if her friendships were real. Roxas…

"How can you say that, even if it were true…?" Her voice was so soft that she could barely even hear herself.

"Some things may be better left unsaid… But I promised you answers and no lies. I'm sorry." Sora leaned forward with his elbows on the table and his hands on his forehead. "It was made by someone named Ansem the Wise, then hijacked by another guy named Braig. Four months ago, you were kidnapped and trapped in here."

"Those names…" Images flashed in Xion's mind: an older man dressed in red and brown, clutching tightly to a machine as it cracked and sparked. Another man in a black coat, with scars on his face and silver streaks in his hair, stood in midair as he fired on her with his twin guns.

Sora saw her reaction and leaned in closer. "Hey, do you recognize the names Donald or Goofy?" No. Yes? Maybe… "Or Kairi? Mickey?"

"I'm sorry," Xion said softly. "But…I feel like I _should_." She ran a hand through her hair and stared at the boy who knew so much more about her than she did. "What should I do, Sora?"

Sora shook his head and took Xion's hand. "Even if this world isn't real, the friendships you have here are. I can't decide for you, Xion. But all of us outside, we miss you."

Well wasn't _that_ calming? No pressure. "Ugh…" Xion returned to resting her head in her crossed arms. Sora continued to sit without a word, apparently trying to think of something more to say. Then Kronk came by to pick up the bowl of ice cream and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the two of them, but left without a word.

And so they sat in silence.

**x-x-x**

"Hey Jessie, are you in here?"

Roxas walked into the dark back room of the jewelry shop at the Tram Common. He wasn't used to coming here, not just into this room but into the shop itself. He had been here once, maybe twice? His father had sent him once to get something for Mother's Day a few years ago. That was it. And honestly if Hayner found him now he'd never hear the end of it.

"I'm here," a voice called from around the corner. Jessie was the granddaughter of the shop owner, a girl Roxas's age in a blue shirt and pink skirt. She stood on a stepladder trying to reach a small white box wrapped in a glossy yellow ribbon, her blonde hair matted with dust from the usually-empty back room. As she stretched to reach the box on the top shelf her foot slipped and she fell back. Eyes wide, Roxas sprinted forward and held his hands out to catch her. The two crashed into the tile floor, coughing from the dust that had been kicked up.

"You okay?" Roxas asked.

"Could be better." Jessie stood up and patted some of the dust off of her pink skirt. "Hey, you're taller than I am. Could you get that?"

"Sure thing." He climbed up onto the stepladder and reached for the top shelf, which despite their height difference was still out of his reach. With a bit of a strain, though, Roxas was able to grab the little white box with the tips of his fingers. As he stepped down onto the stable floor he investigated the box, for unlike the rest of the room it wasn't dusty. It was new.

"Grandma would kill me if she found out I made that for you on a discount. I had to hide it from her."

Roxas looked up and followed Jessie out into the main part of the store. "You mean this is what I asked for?"

Jessie spun on her heel and put her hands on her hips. "It is, but I had to really rush to get it done by today, Roxas. You could have told me sooner than yesterday!"

Roxas rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly. "I kind of didn't know what to do before yesterday."

Jessie sighed and walked over to the cash register. Roxas reached for his wallet and pulled out the munny, then Jessie shook her head and only took half of what he handed her. "I owe you from setting me up with Wedge, remember?"

"Uh, I guess?" The truth was he didn't. But he wasn't about to turn down a fifty percent discount, especially for something as expensive as jewelry.

Jessie handed him the box and receipt and smiled as she propped her elbows up on the counter. "So who are you getting this for, stud? The girl in the picture sure is cute."

Roxas was sure his face was bright red. "Y-You looked?"

"I kind of had to look to put the picture in place."

Oh… That made sense. "…Her name is Xion."

"Pretty name."

"Y-Yeah, I guess so." This was so awkward. "We're – all of us, all my friends – we're going up to the clock tower tonight for the fireworks. I was planning on giving Xion this then, maybe."

"How romantic. I wish Wedge was as thoughtful as you are, Roxas."

"U-Um…" The heat was rushing to his cheeks again. Jessie laughed.

"I'm just teasing you. Go on, I'll see you at school in a few days. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too." Roxas zipped up his coat and put the box in his pocket, glossy yellow ribbon included. He stepped out into the snow-covered Tram Common, head lowered in thought as he walked among the empty buildings.

"Xion…" He hadn't seen her at all today. The only person to greet him when he had gone to see her this morning was Dodger, who was lounging around with his front paws crossed under his chin like always. A quick investigation of her room had shown that she had left her phone and wallet behind. There wasn't a lot she could do without the latter.

Was she okay?

Ugh, that was a stupid question. No, of _course_ she wasn't okay. That had been evident for _days_ now. Roxas grimaced as he continued through the snow, making his way to the Sandlot. Hayner had wanted to see them, to set up just how and when they were going to go to the clock tower. They weren't aware that Xion was missing just yet. Roxas would have to break the news to them, and he wasn't sure how he was going to do that.

Maybe she'd show up of her own accord. Hopefully.

Outside Kronk's, Roxas stopped. His hands fell limp at his side and he felt his jaw drop. Xion was inside there, sitting at the table—and she looked depressed. Roxas didn't have to guess twice to figure out why. As his fingers wrapped around the box in his pocket he glared at the boy sitting across from Xion. That was the brown-haired boy – the one Xion called Sora - who he had seen up in the mountains. He took a step toward the front door and pulled out the box. Xion hadn't noticed him yet.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The voice was dark and cruel, and completely unfamiliar. Roxas turned around to find himself facing a masked figure in black and white, and his breath caught in his throat. This was the one from the rumors, wasn't it? It had to be.

"Xion- She's my friend-" A leather-clad fist slammed hard into Roxas's face and he fell to the ground. Stunned into silence he brought his hand up to his nose and then looked down at his palm. Blood. It was covered in his blood.

"Stop with the blabbering." The masked boy stepped forward and kicked Roxas in the side. "Just looking at you pisses me off. I don't want to hear your cowardly voice."

**x-x-x**

Sora froze. Xion stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"He's here." The boy's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.

"Who is?" She turned to face the glass, but Sora grabbed her hands and she turned back to him.

"Xion, listen to me. Whatever you do, don't look out the window."

"What?" Well that just made her more curious. Against Sora's wishes she looked back out the window, and then and there everything crawled to a stop for her. She felt the blood drain out of her face and she stood up so quickly that she knocked over the glass of water in front of her. "_Roxas?!"_

"Xion, wait!" Sora ran after her as she bolted for the door faster than she had ever run. She didn't even notice the attacker, too focused on her best friend lying in the snow like that. His face was a mess and bruises were forming on what little of his skin was exposed to the winter air. Two halves of little white box lay ruined in next to him, its contents swallowed up by the snow save for a silver chain.

"X-Xion…" A white boot slammed hard into Roxas's gut and kicked him hard, sending him flying into the wall of the building next to Kronk's. Xion followed him, still at top speed, and dropped down to her knees by his beaten body.

"Roxas! Oh my God, Roxas, wake up!" She didn't bother to fight the tears stinging her eyes, blurring her vision. They streamed down her face and dripped onto Roxas and the cold ground as she shook her friend – her _best friend_ – over and over. He was breathing, but damn it all _why didn't he wake up?!_

"Why do you care?" Xion bristled at Sora's cruel voice. What kind of question was that?! She whirled around to give him a piece of her mind – what, did he decide to drop the caring act all of a sudden?! – but it wasn't Sora who spoke. The brunet still stood in the doorway, glaring at the actual speaker. Xion's eyes widened when she finally recognized the masked boy. He walked over and Xion stood up, spreading her arms to her side to protect Roxas. He responded by simply shoving her aside and kicking Roxas in the side. The blond let out a pitiful pained groan. "He's not even a convincing double. Just a copy of a copy."

"Shut up, Vanitas!" Sora demanded. A light flashed in his hands and he was holding what appeared to be a giant key. "Just…shut up!" Sora jumped at the boy called Vanitas, but he only laughed and called on a weapon of his own. Black and white met silver and gold, and then a pulse of darkness rushed out from Vanitas's weapon and sent Sora flying halfway down the street.

"All of you are just pathetic imitations." Vanitas stomped down on Roxas's wrist, digging his heel into the earth and crushing the blond's hand. From her position in the snow Xion could hear a horrible cracking sound followed by the unconscious Roxas screaming. She hoped to everything holy that wasn't the sound of his bones snapping. "Seeing as how I don't really have a use for him, I'll just end it here." He pointed his strange sword downward and lowered it toward Roxas's chest.

"S…Stop…" Xion whispered, groaning as she sat up. Vanitas held a hand out to his side and Xion felt something invisible knock into her, sending her back down to the ground.

"Don't interrupt me. I've been waiting to ruin this precious little face for _years_." His voice almost sounded _gleeful_. Black lightning danced on the tip of his weapon as it drew closer to Roxas's chest.

Tears still stinging her eyes, Xion stood up once again. "I said…" Vanitas didn't hear her and she gulped, wetting her mouth which was beginning to feel like it was stuffed with cotton. "I said to _stop!_" Xion roared, leaping at Vanitas and knocking him to the ground. The masked boy kicked her off of him but Xion ran right back over, pinning his arms to the snow-covered stone. "You leave Roxas _alone!_"

"Why are you fighting back?" Vanitas hissed. He broke one of his arms free and slashed his weapon across Xion's chest, then vanished into the shadows and reappeared standing a few feet away. He spread his legs apart and held his sword with one hand while the other was in front of him. "He's a fake, and you're nothing but a puppet!"

"Even if my memories are fake…" Xion felt a sudden rush of energy surge through her body and light danced at her fingertips. "…they still belong to me!" In brilliant bursts of blue and purple, twin swords appeared in her hands. Keyblades. Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Xion knew them.

She charged at Vanitas with the two Keyblades and screamed loudly. Although he blocked Oblivion's swing from above, Oathkeeper struck from below and the razor edges at the tip dug into his arm. Darkness leaked from the torn leather instead of blood, which caught Xion off guard for a split second. That was just long enough for Vanitas, who suddenly vanished into the shadows beneath him.

"Show me anguish!" Vanitas flew out of the ground and hit Xion with an uppercut, cutting dangerously close to her throat. While he was in midair Xion tossed Oblivion at him and pierced his body…only for a second Vanitas to appear above her and swing downward while the afterimage she had attacked vanished. "What's yours is mine!" The black and white Keyblade struck Xion in the back and she staggered forward. Recalling Oblivion to her hand, she spun around quickly and parried Vanitas's next blow. Light surrounded her two Keyblades and she jumped backwards, firing a burst of holy magic at the masked boy.

Vanitas dodged most of the blast with a one-handed cartwheel, but he did get scraped by the edge. As his body burned from contact with the light Xion ran at him and struck her swords across his chest with upward swings. After knocking Vanitas into the air she proceeded to unleash a combo attack on him, swinging wildly at his body. After the fourteenth strike Vanitas vanished again, reappearing behind her and holding his Keyblade forward with both hands.

Orange light flared to life on the weapon's tip and he sent a fireball flying toward Xion. Flames consumed her body as it arrived too quickly for her to react, and through the pain she nearly dropped her two Keyblades. Vanitas dropped into the shadows again and flew out of the ground beneath her, but Xion backflipped away from his attack. Wind surrounded her body and blew away the last of the flames as well as knocking Vanitas away.

Gripping the hilts of both Oathkeeper and Oblivion tightly, Xion ran at Vanitas again. Blue energy surged around his body and he flew at her with his Keyblade pointed forward. Though she dodged the first charge, he continued to strike at her from different directions, repeating the attack over and over. After the last one he jumped high into the air and came down hair, causing an explosion at the point of impact.

Panting, Xion backed away from Vanitas until she hit something solid. But she was in the middle of the street, so what could it possibly be? She spared a glance behind her to find nothing but empty space, but her back was definitely pressed up against a wall of some sort. Turning her attention back to the fight, Xion ducked just in time to avoid another fireball from Vanitas. It exploded above her and the supposedly empty space flashed with interlocking hexagon patterns. A barrier? That must be why Sora hadn't come back to help her yet.

…She could use this.

Xion ran at the barrier, and then ran _up_ the barrier. She jumped off of it and threw both of her Keyblades downward, where they pierced Vanitas's torso and exploded in flashes of light. As she fell toward the earth she called on the winds around her – not quite sure how she knew how to do so – and picked up the snow coating the ground. A makeshift blizzard rose around them, blocking her from Vanitas's view.

"Pathetic!" Vanitas roared and send out a wave of darkness that coated the area around them. An instant before it hit her Xion called Oathkeeper and Oblivion back into her hands and called up a wall of light to protect her from the blast. Judging from the direction the darkness had come she knew where he stood, but he still couldn't be certain where she was. Xion coated her Keyblades in light and ran at the masked boy.

Metal clashed with metal as Vanitas brought his Keyblade to block Xion's attack despite the low visibility. The teeth of his weapon slid into the gap in Oathkeeper's blade and pointed it down toward the ground, but Xion pulled Oblivion back and then swung it at his head. There was a satisfying _crack_ as metal met glass and Vanitas jumped back. Through the snow she couldn't make out what his face looked like, but she did clearly see two golden lights glaring at her. Vanitas let out an animalistic growl and darkness swirled around his body, pushing down the silhouette of his spiked hair and forming a new mask.

While he was distracted doing that, Xion ran at him again. Both Keyblades pierces his chest only for Vanitas to vanish soon after. Another afterimage. When the real Vanitas appeared in the sky above her a wave of darkness blew away the blizzard and he pointed his Keyblade toward her while hovering in midair.

"Playtime's over." Darkness coated his Keyblade until it appeared to be made of an undulating purple and black mass. Three blue crystals formed in the air in front of him and fired beams of light toward the center of their triangle, causing a purple-blue orb to form at the tip of Vanitas's Keyblade. As Vanitas charged his attack Xion held her own Keyblades out in front of her.

"Darkness waits!" Vanitas fired his attack, a cannon of darkness that flew at Xion. However, thirteen blue-white pillars of light formed in a circle around her and the cannon vanished upon contact with them. "What?!" Xion rose into the air and pointed her Keyblades skyward, sending thirteen beams of light into the sky that rained down on Vanitas. The light knocked him around, burning his dark body, but he eventually broke out of the chain and ran at Xion with his Keyblade still coated in darkness.

Xion backflipped in midair and held her Keyblades out to her sides. The pillars of light around her grew and spun inwards, coalescing into a single great pillar that enveloped her body and then expanded outwards, illuminating all of the Tram Common in blinding whiteness.

Vanitas screamed blood murder until the light cleared.

"I won't lose…to a _cheap imitation!_" Vanitas was on his knees, black wisps of smoke rising up from his body. His Keyblade had vanished and it seemed to be all he could do not to just collapse then and there. "You are strong…but it's not your own heart that gives you that strength." He looked up at her. She could feel the golden eyes behind his mask narrowing in anger and hate. "Ventus." Darkness wrapped around Vanitas and he vanished, but Xion knew he wasn't gone for good. He had just fled to wherever it was he went when he wasn't threatening her.

Vanitas dismissed her own Keyblades and walked over to Roxas. Somehow, miraculously, his body hadn't been injured in that fight. She dropped to her knees and held his hand in hers, once again feeling the tears coming. What purpose did Vanitas possibly have for attacking him? _"I've been waiting to ruin this precious little face for_ _years_." He seemed to do it just because of Roxas's appearance.

Footsteps approached Xion from behind. She ran a hand through Roxas's hair before speaking up. "…I think I've been running away from the question I really want to ask." Green light enveloped Roxas and his lips turned up into a soft smile as the blood cleared from his face. Xion couldn't help but smile with him, and choked back a sob as the tears started stinging her eyes. "What's going to happen to me now? Just tell me that. Nothing else really matters anymore."

"I guess…that depends on you," Sora said as the last hints of the healing spell he had cast vanished. "You're your own person, Xion—it's your life to do whatever you choose."

Xion climbed up to her feet and rubbed her eyes. Casting one last look at Roxas, she pulled the black hood over her face and turned away. Sora didn't follow her, and she didn't want him to.

_Even if I'm not ready, I have to make this choice…_

* * *

_I debated quoting lines from the very first chapter of _Remember the Tides_ near the end, to mirror the scene with Xion over Roxas's body, but decided against it. I'm not sure if that was the better choice or not. Is Roxas dead? He still has to give Xion her present, so we'd better hope not!_

_By the way, you all should check out a few stories: _Antipode: The Year Between_ by MegaFlameHedge, _Missing Chains_ by Amicus Mortis, and _Dark Side of the Moon_ by Yutylity. All good reads.  
_


	9. Promise to the Setting Sun

**Chapter 9: Promise to the Setting Sun**

It was snowing.

Sora walked through the forest outside of Twilight Town in silence, the twigs and dry leaves crunching beneath his every step. While the town was covered in snow, out here in the forest there was only a thin layer. Sora looked up at the sunset sky as the snow fell down gently around him. It was a shade of purple. Night was coming.

A chill breeze blew through the forest, rustling the pine trees, and Sora zipped his jacket up. He continued through the dark wood, traveling down a decades-old path that had long been taken by plants—not that he was aware, being only a visitor to this town and all. Twilight Town – virtual or not - belonged to the people who lived here: Hayner, Pence, Olette, Roxas…

…and Xion.

Sora had meant what he said; it was entirely Xion's choice to make. He couldn't blame her if she wanted to stay here, though he also knew it wasn't exactly a safe choice if she did so. But Sora was nothing if not honest, and he'd keep to his word. He just hoped she made the right choice.

The dark forest began to lighten up as Sora came to a clearing. When he approached the old rusted gate Sora pulled his Keyblade out and pointed it forward, releasing the lock. The gates creaked open from years without use, revealing the courtyard as untouched as the day Sora had first seen it months ago. It was still weird for him to see Ansem's mansion without the scorched stone and brick or circle of burnt away grass that Axel had left behind in the other Twilight Town. Unlike the gate, the front door was unlocked. It was equally old, though, and Sora had to jiggle the handle a bit before the old door opened up.

"Your mind's made up?"

Tron was sitting on one of the broken display cases, having evidently been waiting for Sora. The neon blue glow of his suit stood out against night's encroaching darkness, illuminating the mansion's foyer with dim light. Sora's steps forward left hollow echoes.

"I said what I had to say. Xion deserves as much as I do to be her own person, and she can make this choice on her own."

Tron smiled, yet he still sighed. "I can't fault you for thinking that. You know…I'm actually not the original Tron myself. Ansem the Wise copied my data from a computer made by a company called ENCOM. So I can sympathize with Xion a little bit." He looked down at his hand in his fingers wrapped into a tight fist. "And I would like to think that, like Xion to you, I've evolved past being a simple replica of the original and become my own person worthy of the name 'Tron'.

"However," he continued, "are you really sure that she will make the right choice?"

Sora looked down at his feet. He could say all he wanted that he hoped she would, but did he think she would? Before he had been absolutely certain of it, but during this last week he had seen a lot. He had seen that Xion really did have a great life here, even if it was one that was built on lies.

"…Whatever choice Xion makes is the best one for her." If the time came that Xion chose to stay… Well, they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. They'd find a way to stop Braig and Vanitas from using her to forge the χ-blade, and she could live on in Twilight Town like nothing had ever happened.

Tron's silence was enough of a sign for Sora that the subject had been dropped. The brunet shuffled his feet awkwardly before Tron slid off the display case and stood up straight.

"I suppose you'll be going, then."

"…Yeah." Sora looked up out the window, at the ever-darkening sky. "My friends outside are waiting for me. This is the longest visit I've spent in this world, and I bet they're getting worried."

Tron nodded. "Alright then." A silver crack appeared on a wall of the mansion, forming into a Backdoor that would lead to Sora's exit. Tron followed him into the System Sector, perhaps out of a desire to see things through to the end. The blue halls felt cold as Sora traveled down the Sector, as if the winter air outside had come in through the Backdoor.

At the far end of the passage was a keyhole, simple save for its size—it was as big as a door, tall enough for Sora to fit through. As Sora approached the keyhole it began to glow. Light poured out, flooding the room until the walls were pure white, leaving Sora, Tron, and the exit the only visible things in the room. As it had in the mansion, the lights on Tron's suit cast a blue tint over the two of them.

"So this is goodbye then?" Tron asked while Sora turned around to face him, his figure outline by the light of the keyhole-shaped doorway.

"For now yeah, but who knows? I'm sure it won't be forever." Sora held his hand out with a smile, and Tron took it with an equally friendly grin.

Tron pulled on Sora's arm and wrapped the boy in a tight hug. As he had the last time this happened, Sora stood around awkwardly for a moment before reciprocating. "Don't be a stranger, Sora."

"Of course not. When this is all over, I'll come back. We're friends, you and I." He pulled away from Tron's embrace and turned to the door. Looking back over his shoulder, Sora's grin widened. "See you again, Tron. Thanks for all your help." The light enveloped him while he walked forward, leaving Tron's Twilight Town behind him.

**x-x-x**

"Ugh…"

Roxas's body ached in pain as he pushed himself up off the ground. He blinked in confusion as his vision came back to him and revealed a wide area cleared of snow, the white fluff having apparently been tossed around and shoved aside judging from the way it piled up on the edges of the cleared area. After glancing around for a moment and wondering where he was, it all came back to him: Xion at Kronk's, the masked boy, everything.

Roxas stumbled as he stood up and leaned against the wall. Xion, what _happened?_ He bit his lip as the blurry, vague memories of Xion leaning over his body and begging him to wake up. That had been in the afternoon, but now Roxas realized it was much later. The sun had set and the only light came from the shops that were still open. Roxas pulled out his phone to check the time, but the screen was black and cracked. Well wasn't that just perfect?

Despite his aches and stiff limbs and asphalt-stained clothes, a quick examination showed Roxas that his skin was unscarred. He ran a hand over his nose and found no blood; well, no blood besides the stains on his hand from when he had first been punched by the masked boy.

He had to find Xion.

Roxas started limping down the street, but something caught his eye. Two halves of a little white box with gold ribbon lay forgotten in the street. Roxas recognize it after a few seconds of staring at it, and immediately swung his head around the street searching for something. There, in the snow!

He ran over to the pile outside Kronk's and dropped to his knees. A silver chain sat in the snow and Roxas dug through the white, digging the rest of Xion's Christmas present out. Holding the chain up, Roxas investigated the heart-shaped locket closely. It was expertly crafted, with little unique designs that had been carved in at Roxas's request. It was soaked with melted snow, but it appeared unharmed. He sighed in relief.

"I don't know what would have happened if I lost this."

Roxas pressed on the side of the heart and the locket swung open, revealing his and Xion's smiling face. It was the same photo that they both had copies of, the one they had taken at the beach four months ago. Xion had wanted them to always be together, and Roxas respected that; but he also wanted to get her something for the holidays that she could hold, and so he had opted for this.

Picking up the pieces of the box, Roxas carefully placed the locket inside and then slid it into his pocket. A clock in a nearby window told him it was eleven at night. Ignoring the oddity that no one had noticed him lying in the street all day, he started to make his way up to the clock tower. Christmas fireworks were in an hour, and he'd give Xion her present there.

Best friends, forever.

**x-x-x**

"_Promise me you'll stay for the sunset."_

_Roxas paused what he was doing and looked over his shoulder, the umbrella in front of him haphazardly shoved into his bag. Xion still stood on the beach in her swimsuit, as opposed to the oversized white shirt she had worn over it on arrival. Her hair was still wet from the ocean, and seeing the way it stuck to her face made Roxas tug on one of his own soaking locks. He probably looked pretty weird without his hair spiking up everywhere._

"_Please?"_

_Roxas started. He had been so preoccupied with her appearance that he hadn't really been paying attention to her words. "Uh… Sure," he said with a nod, hoping that the orange sky would mask his red face. He stepped off the sidewalk and slid off his sandals, feeling the last bits of late afternoon warmth radiating off the sand beneath his feet. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had already gone ahead and Roxas had nearly finished packing up, but now he realized Xion hadn't even started. Her towel still lay on the sand where it had been all day, sitting under one of the larger umbrellas that was always set up on the beach._

_Smiling brightly, Xion led Roxas over to the towel and sat down. Roxas followed a moment later, listening to the crunch of the sand as it shifted under his weight. The sun was already low on the horizon over the ocean, and they sat in silence as it lowered further. Xion, despite her insistence that Roxas stay with her, and dropped into silence and stared out at the sparkling orange water with a content smile on her lips._

"…_How are you feeling, Xion?" The question came unbidden, though he didn't regret it. She had only woken up a day or two ago after being unconscious for all of summer vacation. It was only natural to be concerned about her._

"_Better," Xion said. Her hand wandered to the seashell resting against her chest and her fingers curled around it. "Not great, but…better."_

"_Well, that's good to hear. You really had all of us scared. I stopped by the hospital every day."_

_"Sorry."_

_Roxas looked at her with an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Don't be sorry, Xion. It's not your fault."_

_A smile tugged at her lips. "Yeah, I guess not."_

_Their attention turned back to the sun, ablaze with warm colors—orange, red, yellow. The ocean was like it was made out of fire as it reflected the sky. Somewhere in the depths of his memory, Roxas remembered something; something he had heard ages ago, when he was little. Shifting his weight around to get more comfortable, he spoke while staring out at the natural display of art in front of him._

"_Hey Xion, bet you don't know why the sun sets red."_

_Xion looked at him inquisitively, shaking her head ever so slightly. Roxas shared a smile with her before looking at the waves softly lapping against the shore. "You see, light is made up of lots of colors." The words poured out of Roxas's mouth on autopilot. It was an interesting little fact, but he wasn't sure what made him start talking about it. "And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."_

"_The red sky…" Xion whispered softly, seemingly recalling a memory of her own. "One sky, one destiny." Then her eyes narrowed and she smirked at Roxas. "Like I asked, know-it-all!"_

_Guilty as charged. Roxas shoved Xion's shoulder playfully and the two of the laughed, all awkwardness from the earlier conversation dissolved in the play of two best friends.  
_

_When the sun was nearly below the horizon and the water was streaked with gold, Roxas felt Xion's hand rest on his own. He looked over to her and she quickly glanced away, the faint hints of a blush on her face washed out by the red and orange all around them. But her hand on his never moved._

"_Roxas," she began slowly, her other hand still clutching the thalassa shell, "Promise me…you'll always be there."_

_Roxas tilted his head in confusion, but a soft smile crossed his features. Xion looked up at him and blinked her eyes. "I promise, Xion. And even if we get separated," he brought a hand to his chest, "we'll always be together."_

_That was so cheesy, and Xion's light laughter showed that she agreed. But despite that Roxas didn't regret saying it. Her head rested against his shoulder and she reached for her nearby bag. Roxas waited as she fumbled around through the bag without looking, and then she pulled out a small silver object—a camera. She held it in front of them and the flash momentarily lit up the night. Xion turned the camera around and examined the screen, looking at the picture of the two of them with a smile._

"_I'll never forget today. This picture will stay with me for as long as I live."_

**x-x-x**

_Roxas…I'm out of time._

Xion stood with her back against the wall of Twilight Town's clock tower. It was 11:30. From her position down here she could just barely make out her friends sitting on top of the tower, four dark figures against the not quite as dark sky. Snowflakes fell slowly around her, almost in mockery of what she was feeling. Rain would have been more appropriate, really.

Her fingers again reached for the thalassa shell charm; it was a comforting gesture for her, reminding her that her friends were always with her. But no matter how much she told herself that, Xion also knew that what Hayner had said once was right. They _couldn't_ be together forever, and no amount of feel-good thoughts could make the fact that sometimes people are driven apart go away.

"Even if I'm not ready, I have to make this choice," she whispered, repeating her thought from earlier that day.

_I wonder if, in another life, it could have ended differently. If we could have been…_

Xion bit her lip and shook her head. There was no use hanging onto 'what ifs' and 'if onlys'. This was the life she had. But it wasn't the only life she had. Memories stirred inside her heart of a world she knew but didn't remember, and she knew that they were real—more real than this town.

**x-x-x**

_Xion sat on the dock on the beach and watched the stars sparkle above her. Sora and Kairi had both gone home a while ago, leaving Xion to herself. In the back of her mind was a nagging feeling to return to Sora's house shortly, just to make sure no one could get the jump on her while they were separated and thus weak, but she shook her head to banish those thoughts. Destiny Islands was safe; three weeks here of nothing happening had proven that._

_Xion had a feeling she knew what was making her nervous tonight. The three of them had been talking about Riku all evening; about where he was, about when they would go out and find him. Of course without a reliable way of transport there wasn't exactly an easy way to get started on that. Xion still had her Star Shard and she could use it to reach out to find those close to her heart – like she had when returning to Sora after La Cité des Cloches – but the fact of the matter was she wasn't that close to Riku. Sure he had helped her a lot during her time in the Organization, and she guessed she considered him a friend (though that could have been the influence of Sora's memories), but still… It wasn't a simple task to just use the Star Shard to find him._

_The other option was finding some way to contact King Mickey and ask for a Gummi ship. Chip and Dale had returned the _Highwind _to Disney Castle after using it to pick the King, Donald, and Goofy up from Destiny Islands following the final battle with Xemnas. Before they left the King had given Sora a blank paper marked with his seal._

"_If you ever need to contact me," he had said, "write a letter in a bottle and toss it into the ocean. It will find me, I promise."_

_As far as Xion knew, the paper was still blank and sitting in Sora's room next to a glass bottle that Kairi had supplied. Sora had talked about writing a letter to ask Mickey for help concerning Riku, but he hadn't actually gotten around to it yet. Problems with how to word it, Xion guessed._

_Regardless, Xion figured that discussion was probably why she was nervous this night. But there was no reason to be; the only things on the beach besides her were the sound of the tides and the chilly sea breeze._

"_Nice night, isn't it?" Xion was up on her feet immediately, Keyblade in hand. She knew that voice, and even if she hadn't heard it in months it haunted her nightmares almost every night. She hadn't even heard Braig approach, but the man now stood on the sand next to her. Even wearing grey and purple instead of black, there was no mistaking that scarred face._

"_What do you want?" Xion demanded, pointing her Keyblade forward. She hoped Sora wasn't asleep yet and noticed Braig out here, because there was no way she could stand against him while they were apart._

"_Is that any way to greet an old pal?" Braig asked with a step forward. Xion in turn took a step back. "You know, the two of us have something in common, Xion. We're both looking for someone."_

"_Ventus?" Xion asked, tightening her grip on the hilt of her Keyblade. Braig laughed loudly, confusing her._

"_Not quite. Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen Riku around here, would ya?" Braig's guns appeared in his hands as he spoke. "He's been a real pain to track down, know what I'm sayin'?"_

_"…Why do you want to find Riku too?"_

"_Ah-ah, my lips are sealed." He leveled the gun in his right hand at Xion and she in turn raised her Keyblade a little bit higher. "I'm also looking for you, you know."_

_"Me?" Instead of responding with words, Braig opted to fire a round. Xion jumped away from the explosion of sand and called on the wind, sending a blast of Aero at Braig. He vanished in an instant and reappeared above her, using his powers over space ands gravity to stand in midair. More bullets rained down on Xion and she dodged the attacks with a roll, only for something white to burst out of the sand and wrap its lanky limbs around her. "Nobodies?!"_

_Xion struggled against the Dusk's grip until she freed her arm and pierced its head with her Keyblade. Was that just a fluke, or was Braig still in command of the Nobodies despite the Organization's destruction? She didn't have to wait for an answer; more Dusks arrived and flew at her, continuing to coil their limbs and boneless bodies around her._

"_What do you want with me?!" Xion sent a burst of Aeroga swirling out around her, blowing the Dusks back and making them fade away into darkness. She pierced the Keyblade into the sand and leaned against it for support with soft pants. She was using too much magic._

_Cold metal was pressed against her neck and Xion stiffened in fear. Braig leaned in close and pushed the side of his gun further against her neck. The sharp blades pricked at her skin and threatened to draw blood. "Your heart."_

_Xion spun around, but Braig vanished again just before he could be hit. Something hard slammed into her back: a fist, followed by a chop to the back of her head. Xion fell down to her knees and the Keyblade landed in the sand next to her. Magic swirled in Braig's hand as he kneeled down next to her, and Xion suddenly felt sleepy… So very sleepy…_

**x-x-x**

_Braig dropped Xion's unconscious body on the cold tile floor without a second thought and slid into his chair at the computer; one Sleep spell and she wouldn't wake up from anything. He grimaced as his fingers flew over the keyboard and the screens flared to life. He had only cracked Ansem's password a few days ago – the first thing he had tried had been 'sea-salt ice cream', but of course it didn't work; who had food as their password? – and so had very little experience working with this program._

_Sparks flew from the machine sitting on the wall above Xion, which told Braig he was at least doing __**something**__ right. Vanitas, leaning against the wall, spoke up as Braig continued to dig through dozens of folders and windows trying to find the right program._

"_What are we even doing?" His tone was impatient. Braig knew he wanted to break Xion more than anything—well, maybe he wanted to break Ven more, but that wasn't an option right now._

_Braig smirked but never turned away from his work. "Old Mister Wise made a whole virtual world in this computer and planned to trap Roxas in it. So now we're gonna drop Poppet in here until her heart's all good and ready for you to use." He glanced over at the limp body of the girl and then to Vanitas's shadowed figure. "Give her a bit of a life in there, you know?"_

_Vanitas scoffed. "That's almost kind of you."_

_Braig laughed and shook his head. "Heh, as if. I just can't wait to see her face when it's all torn out from under her."_

"_Now you're speaking my language."_

_Ah, there it was. The program Braig had been looking for sat buried beneath about a dozen folders; for what reason, Braig couldn't possibly fathom. It's not like anyone really knew about this computer. Maybe Ansem had grown to be especially cautious after things went to hell for him all those years ago. Braig couldn't blame him for that, at least._

_The program was running and the machine began to whir and hiss and make all the other kinds of sounds that activating machines do. Panels lit up on its surface and the spike-like protrusion came to life with sparks coursing along its length. A beam of light fired from the tip and pierced Xion's body and then expanded out, surrounding the corner of the room with a white shell._

_Braig's grin widened as the light faded; Xion was gone. He looked over to one of the computer screens, where he could now see her sleeping in a hospital bed. "Pleasant dreams, kiddo."_

**x-x-x**

"I guess…Xion isn't coming?" Olette's question felt like a nail driven through Roxas's heart, but he couldn't blame her for it. She didn't know what had happened; he wasn't even sure what had happened, not really.

While Hayner, Pence, and Olette ate their ice cream in silence, Roxas stared down at the little box in his hands. His own bar of ice cream sat next to him, still wrapped up and no doubt melting inside the plastic.

"I'm sure she'll show up soon," Pence said with a naïve hope that made Roxas tighten his fingers around the box. The others glanced at him in quiet concern but said nothing. As far as they knew, he was simply nervous about giving Xion the locket. That was what he had tried to pass it off as, anyway.

For all his talk to Xion about bottling things up inside, he wasn't any better.

The clock tower rumbled beneath them and bells rang out, signaling the stroke of midnight. The four of them looked out over the city with held breath, and soon light flashed from over by Sunset Terrace. Green and red and white fireworks lit up the sky, followed by blue and yellow and all other colors. They rang out across the city and Roxas paid no attention to them.

**x-x-x**

Xion looked up as the fireworks started and choked back a heartbroken sob. Her eyes watering weren't from the light, no matter how much she tried to tell herself that. Xion pulled her necklace off and held the shell in her hand as the tears moved down her face. Salty droplets of water landed in her hand and on the stone floor beneath her.

A faint sound, barely audible in fact, rose up around her. Before Xion's eyes, the seashell in her hands began to crystallize. Shimmering blue ice crept its way slowly across the surface of the shell and little sparkles of light began to lift off of it, rising into the night sky to join the fireworks.

She couldn't fight the sobs this time. Xion hugged the seashell tightly to her chest and began to cry. Images of her friends flashed through her mind: skating with Hayner, investigating the Seven Wonders with Pence, doing homework with Olette, sitting on the beach with Roxas. All of them were lies; she had never really lived in Twilight Town at all. The last bits of the thalassa shell vanished, leaving Xion empty-handed.

"But it was real to me…"

She had made up her mind, but the sorrow was something she didn't want to deal with—_couldn't_ deal with. Xion hugged herself tightly and the tears never stopped flowing. She could feel a creeping sensation at her feet and knew that she, too, would soon vanish just as the seashell had. Already the same sparkles of light were rising from her own body.

"Goodbye, Roxas… I'm glad I got to meet you." Xion looked up at the sky to watch the fireworks. The light pierced the darkness of midnight, and Xion wondered why, like with the snow, her surroundings were so cheerful when she was so sad. "You're my best friend… Never forget, that's the truth."

_You promised that we'd stay for the sunset…_


	10. Friends Old and New

**Chapter 10: Friends Old and New**

Xion's face was wet. Her first thought was that it must have been tears, and so she rubbed at her cheeks accordingly. But instead she found that it was a more sticky wetness, more like humidity than anything else. But it wasn't really humid around her, not really. Only her face felt this way instead of the rest of her.

And what was that weight on her chest?

Xion's eyes struggled open and the very first thing she saw was a bright yellow dog, his mouth open wide in a smile and his tongue hanging out happily. His paws were propped up against her chest and he leaned in close to her with wide, intelligent eyes. Slobber dangled from his bright pink tongue; so, he had been licking her. Xion recognized this dog, though she also knew she had never met him. But Sora had, and now the memories of her entire life – her _real_ life – were coming back, including Sora's memories inside of her.

"Pluto?" Xion asked. The dog in question barked happily and backed off of Xion, wagging his thin little black tail. Pluto ran over to a set of large brown doors at the other end of the room and barked once more, directing his calls to whoever was on the other side. Then he ran back to Xion and sat down beside her, his tongue still hanging from his mouth.

Multiple sets of footsteps were hurrying over to the room from the other side of the brown doors, called by Pluto's bark. As Xion climbed up to her feet – using Pluto for support – the doors flung open. Sora stood in the center of the crowd with wide eyes and an even wider smile, and before Xion had a chance to recognize anyone else he ran over to her and embraced her in a tight hug, his momentum knocking the back of her head against the wall.

"Ow…" Xion muttered, rubbing the back of her head and looking behind her. She felt her jaw fall open ever so slightly at the sight: it wasn't a wall behind her, but a massive bookcase that took up nearly the entirety of the wall. In the space between the bookcase and the ceiling, fancy golden designs were weaved into the otherwise beautifully clean white walls. Having begun an examination of the room, Xion couldn't help but glance around at everything else. The reflective tile floor was a checkerboard pattern of grey and white. Portraits of all sorts hung on the walls of the room, and a golden fireplace was against the wall to her left while the wall to her right had windows that looked out over an impressive courtyard. A well-carved wooden desk sat near the windows, with a strange device sitting atop it. The machine was yellow, with a large blue screen and four smaller screens attached to the side. A funnel of some sort was attached to the top, and the keyboard had multiple brightly colored buttons on it.

"That's the machine that let me go to the other Twilight Town," Sora explained, having followed Xion's line of sight. "Chip and Dale made it." Xion turned back to the boy, whose smile had been replaced with a look of concern. "How are you feeling?"

"…Dizzy," Xion admitted. "I feel like…like I'm waking up from a dream." Already the memories of Twilight Town were starting to become a blur. She wasn't forgetting them – she knew full well what forgetting something felt like – but it was, as she said, like a dream. The memories were slipping into her subconscious and the details weren't quite clear anymore. Frankly, Xion felt awful about it. The people there were still her friends, no matter the circumstances that had brought her to them.

"Gosh, at least you're safe." The squeaky voice behind Sora lifted Xion's spirits considerably. Sora stepped aside to allow Xion to see the others who had come into the room with him. First and foremost was the little mouse dressed in red and yellow, who was grinning from giant ear to giant ear. Next to King Mickey was Donald and Goofy; the former was evidently trying to stay stoic while the latter made no attempts to hide how happy he was.

And while Xion was extremely happy to see them again, the last visitor caught her completely by surprise. At first it was like looking into a mirror, the face before her was so much like her own. But Xion realized it wasn't a mirror when she noticed the differences in hair—red as opposed to black, parted ever so slightly different, and longer. With her hands behind her back, Kairi gave a gentle smile. "It's good to see you back," she said. "We were worried about you."

"Where are we?"

Xion's answer was a good-natured chuckle from Goofy. "Gawrsh, this is mine, Donald's, and the King's world! Welcome to Disney Castle, Xion!"

Xion glanced around at the room again. Yes, she could see it now; frankly, she wondered how it hadn't been obvious to her before. The portraits hanging on the wall all looked a lot like Mickey, she figured they must have been his ancestors, and some of the flashing lights on the big yellow machine were in the shape of his seal as well. Well that was one question answered, but she still had about a hundred more.

"What happened to me, exactly?" Xion asked. She had remembered her fight with Braig, but who could say if it was actual memories or just a dream? "How long was I gone? I mean, was it four months out here like it was in that-" She paused, hesitating to call it 'that fake town.' "…in there?"

Donald crossed his arms. "Hey, don't you think you should rest a bit before asking questions?"

Xion pursed her lips while absent-mindedly scratching Pluto behind the ears. Maybe? She felt a lot better than she had in days, but as she had told Sora already she was still kind of light-headed. And besides, she _had_ just lived another life with the memories to accompany it. It was bad enough that she had Sora's and her own memories to deal with, but now those as well? Maybe some time to think would be best before she plunged into everything.

Mickey spoke up, holding his hand out with a smile. "We'll have plenty of time to explain after ya get some time to clear your head. You're all honored guests at the castle, so feel free to explore wherever ya want!" The little king turned around then, walking off down the carpeted corridor that Xion could see past the wooden doors. He probably had to go do some important royal work, Xion figured. He _had_ been gone from the castle for a long time. Donald and Goofy lingered for a moment longer but they eventually turned out as well.

"We'll be right back, Xion!" Goofy said, turning around as they walked away. "Maxie wanted to see me 'bout somethin'."

So, it was just her, Sora, and Kairi now. Well, them and Pluto; Xion continued to scratch his head, and he was panting happily. "So," she began slowly, "how did you guys get here? I mean, there aren't any Gummi ships on the islands."

"With this." Kairi walked over to the desk – Mickey's desk, most likely – and picked up a folded piece of paper marked with the King's seal. Xion walked over and Kairi unfolded it before handing it to her, revealing a letter written in Sora's messy handwriting.

_Your Majesty, something is wrong. Xion never came home last night and the beach where I saw her last is all messed up, like there was a fight. We're both really worried. Can you guys come here quick?_

And underneath that, in nicer handwriting:

_After I went home last night, I felt something. There was darkness on the islands, but it was for such a short time I thought I must have been imagining things. It wasn't until I learned Xion was missing this morning that I put two and two together. I don't think she ran away. I think something happened to her._

_Please hurry. We already lost Riku, we can't lose another friend._

_-Sora and Kairi._

"Wait a second." Xion set the letter back down and turned to Sora. "Isn't this that magic paper the King gave you? I thought you were planning to use it to ask about Riku?"

Riku rubbed the back of his head and looked down at the floor. "That was the original plan, and we still want to find him! But well, you were kinda more immediate."

There was a prolonged silence as Xion took that in. She looked down at the desk, examining the documents and letters that King Mickey had left scattered across it. Nothing about what was running through her mind.

"…Has there been any sign of him?"

Sora and Kairi glanced at each other nervously before either spoke. "…Not yet," Kairi said at last, her voice soft. "Four months of searching and nothing. Whenever we weren't worrying about you we were off on other worlds looking for him."

Xion recalled with a chill the last time they had seen Riku, that day that he and Axel had fought in front of the old mansion in Twilight Town. After everything was over Kairi had voiced concern that maybe Axel had finished Riku off then. Xion didn't want to even consider it, but if he still hadn't been found after all this time then maybe…

Xion decided to change the topic. This discussion wasn't helping any of them. "So, what have I missed while I was gone?" She forced a smile, hoping it seemed genuine. "Learn anything new?"

Kairi tried to hide her relief at the shift in discussion, but it showed on her face nonetheless. "Yeah. Donald's been teaching me a lot, and I've gotten better at magic. Look at this!" She held her right hand out, palm up, and narrowed her lips in concentration. A blue spark flared to life in the air above her open palm and quickly expanded outwards, coalescing into a floating orb of water. "I'm best at water spells; I just learned Watera last week. No Waterga yet though." The water dispersed, becoming water droplets that faded away before they reached the tile floor. Kairi's smile faltered ever so slightly. "And…I've been speaking to Naminé, too."

Sora's head perked up and he looked at Kairi attentively. This seemed to be news to him as well. "Naminé is still in there?"

Kairi bit her lip. "…Sometimes. Not always. Mostly I just see her in dreams where I'm standing on a stained glass floor." The smile came back. "We talk about stupid stuff, like ice cream or drawing. I think she really enjoys it. She never had much of a life before, you know?"

Mention of the blonde girl who had helped them so much brought another image to Xion's mind up from the depths of her heart. "Next time you see Naminé," she said with a sad smile, "can you tell her that her brother wishes they had met?"

Sora looked down guiltily at the floor at that comment, though Xion didn't think he had any reason to. Kairi brushed a bit of hair back behind her ear. "Naminé wishes she had gotten to meet Roxas, too. Maybe they will some day."

**x-x-x**

Some time later, Xion had decided to leave the library and get some air. King Mickey had said they had free rein of Disney Castle, and she intended to take him up on that offer. Pluto was trotting along happily at her side as she made her way through the confusing halls; she didn't mind, she loved dogs. Sometimes while on missions back in the Organization she had seen people playing with their pets, and she had always wanted one of her own.

Xigbar – or Braig, rather – had known and teased her about it. Maybe…Maybe that was why he had given her Dodger in the other Twilight Town.

Right now the two of them were in an open-air hallway which overlooked a courtyard; over on the other end of the courtyard Xion could see the tall set of doors near the library, which meant that she had nearly gone in a circle during her wanderings. As she leaned against the railing, one of Xion's hands crawled up to her chest and she absent-mindedly gripped at her necklace. What her fingers wrapped around wasn't the polished bumps of her thalassa shell, however. Xion backed away from the rail and looked down at the necklace in her grip, her fingers unfurling carefully to reveal it. It was silver, with a blue gemstone and a ukulele charm painted on the front. …Right, she remembered now. Stitch's summon charm, the one she had bought just before the Battle of Hollow Bastion. How was Stitch, Xion wondered? Safe, hopefully. Still in Traverse Town with Lilo, no doubt.

The sound of laughter from the courtyard caught Xion's attention, and Pluto's as well judging by the way he turned his head from her to the carefully shaped hedges. Two unfamiliar, accented voices spoke in high spirits while a third, scratchy one grumbled. Xion didn't want to listen in on anyone's private conversations, but she recognized that third voice distinctly: Donald. Her curiosity piqued, Xion made her way to a marble staircase around the corner and walked down into the courtyard, Pluto following her the whole way.

"Haha, Donald my friend, you should have seen the look on your face!"

There was a good natured-chuckle from Donald's second friend as Donald grumbled again. "It was an accident, but it was certainly funny, no?" Now that she could hear the two of them more clearly, she could tell that their accents were distinct from one another; similar to be sure, but distinct.

Xion rounded the corner of a large hedge to finally see Donald and his two companions. The first was a green parrot, holding a cigar and leaning on a closed black umbrella like it was a cane. Next to him was a red rooster with a sombrero, who was trying to muffle his laughter while Donald rubbed the top of his head. There was a suspiciously cigar-shaped burn front and center on the duck's forehead, and when he noticed Xion he hurriedly shoved his blue hat back on and began whistling innocently as if nothing had happened.

"Xion! What are you doing here?" Donald's question turned the heads of the other two over to her, and they broke into wide smiles.

"Ah, so this is the famous Xion, eh?" The parrot asked. He leaned over on his umbrella some more and moved his cigar away from his beak, prompting Donald to back away from the smoking object. "Como vai você? Como vai essa força? Por onde tem andado? Há quanto tempo que eu não o vejo! Que há de novo? Or as you off-worlders say: what's cooking?"

As opposed to the parrot, the rooster ran up to her immediately began shaking her hand with gusto. "Son of a gun, it's a pleasure to meet you at last, Señorita Xion!"

"Uh… You, too." Xion said, taking a step backwards. They didn't frighten her, but she was a bit overwhelmed by the red one.

The green one seemed to catch on. "Ah, we are being impolite! We have not yet introduced ourselves."

"Ahem," Donald cleared his throat, evidently trying to pull Xion's attention over to him. "This is-"

"I," the parrot said, cutting Donald off, "am José Carioca. My friends, they call me Zé. Joe works too, if it is easier."

The rooster began shaking her hand again before Xion could respond to José. "And my name is Panchito Romero Miguel Junípero Francisco Quintero González III!"

"Um…" Wow, that was a mouthful. Xion didn't really know where to begin.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Donald said, shoving Panchito and José aside. "Xion, what are you doing here? Weren't you with Sora and Kairi?"

"I'm just out on a walk. Clearing my head, like you and King Mickey said." Donald narrowed his eyes and tapped his foot. Xion sighed, but she knew it was out of concern for her. "I'm fine, Donald."

"I don't know…"

"Oh let it go, primo!" José slung his arm over Donald's shoulders and tapped the end of his umbrella against the duck's beak. "If Xion says she is fine then she is fine, no?"

"Sí, Donald; that is how it work, my friend." Panchito was on the other side of Donald and he took slung an arm over the duck's shoulders. Xion couldn't help but giggle as Donald ranted at them under his breath, struggling out of their grip. Panchito and José joined in the laughter.

Once the humor at Donald's expense had ended, Xion turned to the other two. "So, how did you guys meet?"

"We are three caballeros, three gay caballeros," Panchito said as if it explained everything. "They say we are birds of a feather."

"Oh, it goes back anos and anos," José added. "I met Donald long ago, when he took a trip out of the castle to my hometown to learn to dance. And then some time later, Donald and I, we went on a tour of the world for his birthday. That is where we met Panchito."

"Friends for life, huh?"

"Sí, señorita. We have the stars to guide us." Panchito picked up one of three wooden guitars that was sitting on a nearby hedge and improvised a merry little tune. "Guitars here beside us, to play as we go." Donald reached for a guitar of his own only for José to subtly stick his umbrella out at Donald's feet, tripping the duck up. Donald slammed face-first into the grass.

"Perhaps we are a bit too hard on him, eh?" José asked with a chuckle as he helped Donald up.

"Never say such things, amigo! Through fair and stormy weather we stand close together, isn't that right?"

"Sure, sure…" Donald muttered, climbing to his feet and brushing grass off of his clothes. "Why are you two even here anyway?"

José puffed on his cigar and once again tapped his umbrella on Donald's beak. "Well, funny you should ask! Have you been to Bahia, Donald?"

"No."

Xion left Donald to discuss what were evidently vacation plans with his friends. It wasn't until she had climbed the marble stairs and returned to the open-air hall that she noticed Pluto had wandered off somewhere during her discussion with the caballeros. That wasn't too surprising, honestly. She remembered the first time Sora had met Pluto, in Traverse Town. He had run off then without any warning, too.

As Xion continued on her walk of Disney Castle, she passed near a window that gave her a glimpse of the rest of the world outside. Buildings of all sorts of shapes and painted vibrant colors were built along yellow brick roads. It was certainly a lighthearted world; it reminded her of Wasteland, after the Blot had been defeated. Hm, Mickey had said that he and Oswald based it on their own home, hadn't they?

"Dad, do you really have to go?"

The adolescent voice that came from around the next corner made Xion stop. Someone was having a family moment, and she wasn't about to interrupt that. She was just about to turn around and go back the way she came when the boy's father spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Maxie, but you know Sora's pal is still out there somewhere. Not to mention all them Heartless and Nobodies."

Was that _Goofy?_ Goofy had a _son?_ … Oh, that's right. Goofy had said he was a father before, hadn't he? When he had been talking to Nani in Traverse Town. Xion's curiosity got the better of her and she looked around the corner. There was Goofy, sure enough, talking to the teenager who must have been his son: a dog dressed in a red hoodie and blue jeans. The family resemblance was certainly there.

"I guess so." The boy crossed his arms. "But it just feels like you only got home recently."

Goofy smiled. "Gawrsh Max, I thought you didn't want your ol' bumbling dad hangin' around you and your friends?"

Max – Maxie must have been a nickname, then – frowned and looked down at the floor. "Well yeah, but I still miss you when you're gone, you know?"

Goofy kneeled down and put one hand on Max's shoulder. "Max, remember that time we went on a trip together?" Max nodded slowly. "So long as you keep that time with ya, I'm never gone. Not really."

Max shrugged Goofy's hand off his shoulder, muttering something about embarrassing dads with a smile. "…It'd be nice if I could come with you, though," he said more loudly.

Goofy frowned. "Max, you know it's too dangerous for that." Seeing Goofy giving off the 'stern father' look was so _weird_, but strangely…it fit him. Xion found herself smiling along with Max.

"I know; it was just a hope. Just…" His smile faltered. "Can you promise me one thing while you're gone?"

"Anything, Maxie."

"Promise me you won't hurt Peej's dad." Goofy grew silent and Max rubbed his arm nervously. "He's heard the rumors, dad. He's worried."

"That's…" Goofy sighed. "That's up to Pete, Maxie. But I'll try my best."

Pete was a father, too? That certainly didn't make things any easier. While Max and Goofy continued their talk, Xion turned away as she had with Donald and his friends. This was a personal, family matter. She shouldn't have even listened as much as she already had.

It wasn't much later that Xion ran into one more new face. As she dodged the magic brooms that marched down the halls, familiar black ears approached her from down the stairs. "Is that you, Your Maje-" Xion stopped; it wasn't Mickey, it was another mouse dressed in a pink dress and wearing a tiara.

The mouse gasped in surprise at seeing Xion, but composed herself quickly. "Oh my, are you the Xion I heard so much about? You really do look just like Kairi, I thought it was her at first."

"Yeah, that's me."

The mouse must have mistaken her short sentence for offense, because she bowed lightly. "I'm sorry, dear. That must have sounded awfully cold; Mickey told me all about you." To call him Mickey without a title, she must have been someone important. "My name is Minnie; I'm the queen of Disney Castle."

Xion's eyes widened and she dropped down to one knee, a hand over her chest. "Your Majesty! I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

The Queen walked over to Xion and took her arm in her hands, insisting she stand up. Xion did climb to her feet, but not without a bit of hesitation. "No, no! It's perfectly fine, really! Any friend of Mickey's is a friend of mine."

"I-If you say so, Your Majesty."

The Queen smiled. "Now there won't be any of that here," she said with a playful tone. "Call me Minnie, I insist."

"I- Okay, Minnie."

"There, that's better. Now then, Xion, the truth is I've been looking for you."

Xion tilted her head in confusion. "You…have?"

"Yes. Mickey asked for everyone to meet him in the audience chamber, through the large doors near the library where you awoke."

"Do you know why?"

Minnie frowned. "I don't know the details, but I'm sure it has something to do with those Heartless monsters that have been harming the worlds. Them, and your friend Riku."

Xion started. "Riku?!"

"Yes. Mickey brought him here once, you know, about a year ago. He was such a sweet boy, but he seemed to have trouble making friends." Minnie shook her head. "Anyway, please follow me. I can take you to the audience chamber."

Xion bowed her head. "Thank you, You Maje- I mean, Minnie."

* * *

_Oh, it feels good to get back into the Disney groove again! I'm sorry, this chapter had been planned to be out sooner. I started writing it two days ago, but by the time I got to José and Panchito's appearances I ended up wasting my time listening to Three Caballeros songs on YouTube instead of writing. And then A Goofy Movie was playing in the background and distracting me during Goofy and Max's scene._


	11. Lining Up the Pieces

**Chapter 11: Lining Up the Pieces**

Xion and Minnie stood in front of the gigantic pair of purple doors that she had passed when leaving the library before. So, this was the entrance to the audience chamber? She wasn't really sure what to expect. And what was the point of making the doors so big, anyway? Maybe the King had a bit of a showoff inside of him; she did remember how he had named the mountain in Wasteland after him.

Minnie knocked on the doors with her dainty fist, but it wasn't just simple knocking; there was a pattern to it, a rhythm, almost like a song. A moment after Minnie lowered her hand the door replied, soft banging sounds coming from within as if some machinery inside was whirring to life. The sound echoed the rhythm that Minnie had knocked onto the doors. The doors shuddered and Xion took a few careful steps back, expecting them to swing open dramatically. Instead, however, only a small rectangle near the bottom of the doors swung open—a miniature door-within-a-door.

Xion raised an eyebrow while Minnie walked through the opening as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Ducking her head down – the door was just barely too short for her – Xion followed the Queen inside.

The walls of the audience chamber stretched even higher than the doors had, if that was even possible. The ceiling seemed miles away. The white floor was perfectly polished and reflected everything upon it like still water. At the far end, down a red carpet trimmed in gold, was a golden throne. Extravagant designs were built into the wall behind the throne and it was flanked by statues of Donald and Goofy, or perhaps their ancestors. Hanging above was a red and gold tapestry, the King's seal marked on it in black. While Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy stood around the throne, the King himself had yet to arrive.

"Her Royal Highness Queen Minnie Mouse approaches!"

Xion jumped a little bit in surprise at the voice. The speaker was one of many extravagantly-dressed musketeers that stood against the walls of the room. At his word they all stepped forward. The entire crew was composed of more dog-men like Goofy, dressed in red tunics and wearing blue tabards with a golden fleur-de-lis sewn into the front. One nearer to the throne adjusted his brown wide-brimmed hat.

The musketeers stood at attention the whole length of the red carpet connected the throne and doors. As Minnie began walking forward they raised their rapiers in salute two at a time, forming an arch over their queen. Xion followed in silent awe. When they reached the other end, Donald pulled Xion off to the side.

"Hail His Royal Majesty, King Mickey Mouse!"

The lead musketeer, the one who had called out when Minnie entered the room, began rapidly playing a drum. Next to him another one played a merry tune on a trumpet; it was the same as the rhythm that Minnie had knocked on the door to.

"Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?" Goofy was quietly yet cheerfully singing along to the tune before Donald shushed him. He covered his mouth with his hands and apologized through a giggle.

King Mickey entered the room, looking down at the floor and blushing like mad out of embarrassment. The musketeers stood straighter and raised their rapiers higher up. When the King walked forward they bowed down and stepped back, once again two at a time, and held their rapiers vertically, parallel to their faces. Minnie placed a hand on Mickey's arm when he reached the rest of the group, and as one the musketeers turned and merged the two rows into a single file before marching out the door in time to the trumpet's song.

"…Sorry about that," Mickey said once the musketeers were out of ear shot. He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "I don't think we need to do that every time I come in here, but they insist."

"You handled it wonderfully, Mickey," Minnie said with a smile. Mickey's blush grew darker. "It sure has been a while since we've had to go through that."

"Well, we're all here." That was Sora who spoke up, his hands behind his head as he smiled. "What's up, Your Majesty?"

Xion eyed Mickey carefully as he looked up at Sora. There were dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't been getting much sleep. His voice was strained slightly and the edges of his eyes were red. Had something been keeping him up at night?

"Right… Where to begin?" the little king asked.

Xion inwardly sighed. If anything, what was keeping him up at night would be the concern of the last few months—her, Riku, Braig, Vanitas. She had the feeling that a lot had been happening while she was away, and now she wanted – needed – to know what all of that was. "Start after Braig got a hold of me. What led up to all of this?"

Mickey nodded and sat down in his throne, but he slumped into it rather than sitting straight up. "It was four months ago, just like it was in the other Twilight Town." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper, the same letter from Sora and Kairi that had been sitting on his desk in the library. "One day we found this message in a bottle on the bank of the Timeless River outside of town. I knew Sora would use my magic paper eventually, but I never thought it'd be so soon after ya got home. Before even reading it I had the Gummi ship prepared to go out and get you fellas so we could find Riku, figurin' that's what it was all about." Mickey folded up the paper and rested it on the seat of the throne. "But then-"

There was a knock on the door, turning everyone's attention to the far end of the room. Mickey frowned in confusion, evidently not expecting any visitors. The little door inside the larger doors opened a crack and a duck stuck her head inside.

"Daisy?" Donald asked.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," the duck, Daisy, said. "Queen Minnie, could you come out into the kitchens please? The brooms are acting up and poor Horace has no idea what to do. We could use some magic."

Minnie glanced at Mickey before turning to face Daisy. "Of course. I'll be right there." She followed Daisy soon after the duck shut the door, casting an apologetic look to Mickey as she traveled down. The King simply waved goodbye with a small, sad smile on his face.

"King Mickey has been so busy looking for you and Riku," Sora whispered to Xion, "that he's barely been home at all. I think he misses Minnie more than he lets on." Xion looked down at the floor; she knew she wasn't responsible for it in the least, but still she felt guilty.

"Anyway, uh, where were we?" Mickey asked after an extended silence.

"The letter that arrived in the Timeless River." Xion jumped at the voice. Jiminy Cricket was sitting on Donald's shoulder with his book open. She hadn't even noticed him there!

"Oh, right. Well, I figured it would be about finding Riku, so I had Chip and Dale get the _Highwind_ ready to fly over to Destiny Islands. But while they were fixing repairs and all, I finally sat down and read it." He slid further into his seat. "But when I found out you were missin', Xion, I didn't have any real answers. Not at first, anyway."

"How did you learn that it was Braig?"

Sora turned to her and said only one word: "Ventus." Xion brought a hand up to her chest and felt the slow, rhythmic beat of her heart before Mickey continued.

"I didn't know at first that your heart was Ven's heart." Mickey rubbed his forehead. "I mean, I kinda had some suspicions about Roxas after Riku described him to me once - it sounded like he was describin' Ven - but I never woulda guessed that Ven's heart had somehow jumped like it did."

"'Jumped'?"

"Kairi was the one who figured that part out."

Kairi fidgeted slightly as all eyes were on her. She smiled softly, clearly a little bit embarrassed. "W-When my heart was inside Sora's," she began slowly, "there was another person there too. It was never really a clear image; he was kind of…sleeping inside Sora's heart. I think that was Ventus."

Sora's memories flashed through Xion's mind: the Keyblade of Peoples' Hearts, his sacrifice at Hollow Bastion to finish the Final Keyhole and wake Kairi. The moment of Roxas's birth. "So…that's how Ven got inside of Roxas."

Mickey nodded. "Yup; that's what I figure, too. And then you got the heart after absorbin' Roxas when you left Organization XIII."

"But how did that make you realize it was Braig?"

"I never really quite got that either," Goofy chimed in.

Mickey sighed and stood up from his throne. "This is gonna take some explaining." He pressed his hand on the armchair and Xion heard a soft click. The ground beneath them shuddered and moved away, revealing a staircase leading down into the basement. Xion couldn't help but think back to the secret basement in Hollow Bastion where they had found Aqua's armor and the Keyhole, but unlike that this was much more well-lit.

Mickey made his way downstairs without hesitation, and Donald and Goofy were close behind. Xion, Sora, and Kairi followed after looking at each other with curiosity; this staircase and where it led was evidently as much of a mystery to those two as it was to Xion.

"A long time ago,' Mickey explained as they moved downstairs, "in what we call the age of fairy tales, all of the worlds in the starry sky were united as one big World. The World was bathed in light from the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts." Mickey walked off the final step and into a massive chamber, empty safe for the glowing orb that sat on a stone pedestal in the middle of the room. "Kingdom Hearts was protected by a special key called the χ-blade, which is different from a Keyblade."

"It looks like it should be pronounced 'ex-blade,'" Sora said next to Xion.

"You've heard this before?"

"Mickey told us when we got here. He hasn't shown us this room though."

Mickey stopped in front of the orb of light and placed a hand on it. His Keyblade appeared in his other hand. "People wanted Kingdom Hearts. They made weapons called Keyblades in the image of the χ-blade—kinda like how me and Oswald based Wasteland on this world."

_Or like how Organization XIII made me in Sora's image,_ Xion thought with a bit of bitterness—toward Xemnas, not toward Sora. She had tried her best to move on but she'd never be completely free of that fact. Their reliance on each other was proof enough.

Mickey continued. "The battle between Keyblade wielders was called the Keyblade War. In the end of the Keyblade War, Kingdom Hearts vanished into the Realm of Darkness and the World fell. The light in the hearts of children revived the World like we have it today: a bunch of smaller worlds in the Realm of Light. The surviving Keybearers chose to protect the light they still had left." Xion felt her eyes widen ever so slightly. She _knew_ this story—the story Kairi's grandmother had told Kairi, the one Sora had seen a memory of!

Donald frowned. "But how does that lead you to Braig?"

"The χ-blade," Mickey replied softly. "At the end of the Keyblade War, the χ-blade broke apart into twenty pieces—thirteen shards of darkness and seven shards of light. But ya see, ya don't need all twenty pieces to make a new χ-blade." Xion saw Mickey's grip tighten around his Keyblade and his eyes looked distant, as if he was remembering something. "I told ya all before—that my three friends Aqua, Ven, and Terra fought in a battle with a man named Master Xehanort who wanted Kingdom Hearts. The way Xehanort was gonna get Kingdom Hearts was by makin' a χ-blade of his own—one born of equal light and darkness. So he took Ven's heart and- and he split it in half. Ven's darkness became a new being named Vanitas."

Xion felt like the floor had been pulled out from underneath her. She remembered her dream, the one she had had while in Twilight Town. An old man, Vanitas, and three knights standing in a desert—that had to be, without a doubt, the battle Mickey was talking about. So had her dream been it from Ven's point of view?

"When both halves grew strong enough, Vanitas recombined with Ven and they created a new χ-blade. Aqua and I destroyed it and kept Kingdom Hearts away from Master Xehanort. But when Sora told me he had been fightin' a masked boy named Vanitas, I put two and two together."

"So if Xion and Vanitas fight, it's going to make this super-Keyblade and summon Kingdom Hearts?" Kairi asked.

Xion frowned. "But I've already fought him before."

Mickey shook his head. "I think the years that Ven's heart was asleep – gosh, it's almost been twelve years now – I think that weakened it. The light isn't as bright as it was that day in the Keyblade Graveyard." He sighed. "But it could get that strong again. We gotta keep Xion and Vanitas as far apart from each other as we can until we can stop him and Braig."

"How _does_ Braig fit into this?" Sora asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Mickey rubbed the back of his head. "That day, Braig was there at the Keyblade Graveyard. He was workin' for Master Xehanort. He and Vanitas gotta be after Kingdom Hearts now."

Xion bit her lip. "When we saw Braig in the World That Never Was, he wanted us to kill Xemnas. Your Majesty, do you have any idea why?"

Mickey crossed his arms in thought. "Gosh…I couldn't tell ya. Like I said when I first told ya about that day, I honestly don't know if Master Xehanort and the Xehanort that took Ansem's name are even the same person. It could be he wanted him out of the way for…somethin' or other." He shook his head. "I really don't know why."

"So," Xion began, "after you figured out that it was Braig, you went looking for him?"

"Yeah." It was Donald speaking now. "We found out that he was using a computer Ansem had under the mansion that Naminé lived in, so Chip and Dale made a computer of their own to get Sora inside!"

Xion nodded silently. That answered most of her questions—all but one. "And what's _this_ thing?" She pointed to the orb of light in the middle of the room.

Mickey glanced at the orb and chuckled. "This is the Cornerstone of Light. Believe it or not, it actually dates all the way back to the Keyblade War! An ancient Keybearer from the part of the united World that would become Disney Castle actually managed to get a little speck of light from Kingdom Hearts and keep it in this magical glass here. The Cornerstone has kept our world safe from darkness for centuries, which makes it the safest place in the universe right now."

"Safest?" Xion frowned and looked around at everyone else. "Why? What's going on?"

Kairi rubbed her arm. "Xion…things have gotten kind of bad while you were asleep."

"You remember the Battle of Hollow Bastion?" Sora asked. How could she not? So much had happened that day: Axel's death, Cid's near death, their first confrontation with Xemnas, the revelation that Xehanort's Heartless was still alive and apparently on their side. "Maleficent wasn't happy just letting it end there. Her Heartless have been fighting Braig and his Nobodies across the worlds."

"What?" Personal losses aside, that battle hadn't caused much devastation in Hollow Bastion because it had stayed out of the city. But if the Heartless and Nobodies fought in a world with a higher, or even just denser, population…

"And that's why the Cornerstone makes Disney Castle so safe," Mickey added. "The Heartless can't come here with its light—a tiny piece of Kingdom Hearts itself is protecting this place. But," he said with a raised finger, "Nobodies _can_ come here since they're not part of the darkness. That's why we had to hide the door that Sora was using to go to Twilight Town, because if Braig found us he could send a whole bunch to attack."

Xion took a step forward. "Where are Braig and Maleficent now? Let's get the jump on one of them and end it before anything horrible happens!"

"Well, we know where they are," Goofy said. "Maleficent is in the Organization's old world and Braig took Hollow Bastion's castle. But…"

"We just don't have the manpower to do that," Sora said softly. "We'd get overwhelmed by Heartless or Nobodies one way or another. You remember when hundreds of them were marching on us before we fought Xemnas."

Kairi nodded. "So for now we decided we're going to focus what we can on finding Riku and fighting the Heartless and Nobodies in other worlds while we search."

"I get it… Then let's get started right now." Xion held up her hand to call forth a corridor of darkness. The sooner they got started the better. Unfortunately, nothing happened; she stood there as the seconds ticked by without any darkness appearing in front of her. Xion looked down at her hands with a frown. "Why can't I…?"

Mickey stepped forward, curious. "If I had to guess, the light in your heart must have grown strong enough to resist calling up corridors."

Xion raised an eyebrow at the little king. "But I've used them plenty of times before."

"Well, it's just an idea." Mickey rubbed the back of his head. "I think maybe as you've fought and grown stronger, the light inside grew stronger too and resists the darkness more now. Like Kairi; she can't open a corridor either, since she's a Princess of Heart." Xion glanced over at the red-haired girl for a moment before turning to Mickey. "When was the last time you used one, Xion?"

That was a good question. How long had it been? She had at least tried using a corridor of darkness in the World That Never Was, but that failure had been because they had blocked outside access; and besides, the darkness had swirled up for a moment then before collapsing. The last time might have honestly been right before she fought Riku at Memory's Skyscraper. Xion stared down at her hand, curling and uncurling her fingers. "Okay then. We'll use the Gummi ship."

_Whoosh._

Xion was halfway to the staircase when she heard the sound. She stopped mid-step and slowly turned around, her white and yellow boots click softly on the tile floor. It had been four months since she had heard that noise, but she knew it well.

_Whoosh._

Nobodies.

Two Become One was in her hand immediately, and the Kingdom Key and Kingdom Key D in Sora's and Mickey's. Donald and Goofy stood in front of Kairi despite her own protests that she could help and the water beginning to swirl around her clenched fist. But a battle never came. With the last _whoosh_ and the arrival of the thorny white and black vines, only a single Nobody appeared. Most everyone tensed up at its silver body and awaited who would make the first move, but Xion nearly dropped her Keyblade in surprise.

"The Samurai?" The Nobody turned to face Xion and stood in silence. It was, indeed, the sole remaining Samurai from the ones who had pledged themselves to her during the final battle with Organization XIII. Its chest and face were still scarred from Sora's Keyblade when Xion under Xemnas's control had ordered it to attack him.

_**Mistress XIV, **_it spoke in her mind and only she could hear. _**This one lives to serve.**_

"What's this?" Mickey asked. He hadn't been with them at the castle except for near the end, and his only experience with the Samurai had been during the fight between Xion and Sora.

Xion smiled and walked toward the Samurai, which stood as still as ever. "Samurai served Roxas. Now they're on our side; or, well, this last one is."

_**Master II commands all others.**_

So more than just Dusks and Snipers were with Braig? That figured. "Will you help us?" she asked. The Nobody was silent, evidently considering Xion's question. The truth was it had probably never been _asked_ before, just told.

_**This one-**_ It paused. _**I**__** will.**_ Xion smiled and crouched down, placing a hand on the Samurai's shoulder in thanks. It vanished then without a word, but Xion wasn't concerned. More likely than not it would arrive at a call, just as she had seen the other Organization members command their Nobodies before. Xion found herself grasping at Stitch's summon charm again. They had more allies than just the ones you could see at first glance.

"Come on. Let's go."

**x-x-x**

So Xion was gone. Vanitas scowled beneath his mask but otherwise remained composed. There was no need to get upset over this. He had always assumed something like this would happen, because Braig had made it clear time and time again that he really was not good at computers.

The Flood sitting on his shoulder fell apart and vanished into darkness. He still wasn't strong enough to make any more powerful Unversed, and even the Floods were unstable and disappeared soon after their 'birth.' He had to become stronger, so he could send out the Unversed and in turn Ventus's heart would become stronger. Nobodies and Heartless would cut it, sure, but why settle for two groups of enemies when there could be three out there?

Braig walked into the foyer of the abandoned mansion, stretching his shoulders as he left the library. Vanitas stopped trying to call on more Unversed for now and looked up at the man as he came down the old stairs.

"I finally found him," Braig said with a toothy grin.

About time. "So where is he?"

Braig stopped at one of the ruined display cases, casually examining a shard of glass as his grin widened. "Man, you are _never_ gonna believe this."

**x-x-x**

The wind blew violently, picking up sand and dust from the rugged landscape and tossing it through the air. He stood on the edge of a low cliff, overlooking a field of brown stone scarred with erosion and battle. Great craters dotted the land, and mountains had unbelievably massive gashes torn into their sides. Entire chunks of earth had been sundered, causing spires of rock to reach into the sky like jagged teeth. High up above, the setting sun had transformed the sky into a shade of orange that nearly matched the stone below. Fluffy clouds stained with dirt floated harmlessly in the sky, unaware of the foreboding atmosphere that permeated the world below. With his hood up Riku marched silently forward, delving into this stormy, war-torn place.

An empty world, like a prison. He imagined he would be right at home.


	12. Ends of the Earth

**Chapter 12: Ends of the Earth**

Riku didn't know where he was, what world this was. He didn't particularly care, either. Not really.

Four months. Four months he had been wandering from world to world, trying to find an answer. Four months and he was almost out of time. Riku's very existence was at risk—at risk of becoming supplanted by Ansem's. The darkness sat inside his heart and ate away at him, as it had since that day when he had finally given in to Ansem's call and turned to the shadows against Axel. Riku regretted that decision every day, even if it had given him the power he needed to save his friends from Xemnas and Saïx. But sooner or later Ansem would take over; Riku would become a vessel, a puppet, as he had before. And if he had any choice in the matter, that day would come on an empty world far from anyone who Ansem could hurt.

That or he found a way to save himself. His first stop on that venture had been Traverse Town, hoping that its status as a refugee world would mean its wide variety of people could help him find an answer. His first encounter was with an impossibly old woman who could only be described as 'scary beyond all reason.' She was selling potions that could supposedly change him back, but she didn't exactly look trustable.

Leaving Traverse Town, Riku ended up visiting a blind old woman living in a boat in a tree in a bayou. She apparently had a proven track record with shape-shifting magic, but instead of casting any spell she had instead spoken about 'what you want' versus 'what you need' and told him to 'dig a little deeper' while accompanied by dancing flamingoes. He had left that world mostly confused and with a bruise on his head courtesy of a piece of wood she had used to chastise him.

After several other false leads, Riku was starting to lose hope. And he knew better than to visit that Merlin fellow in Hollow Bastion for help, since Sora's friends were all there. So he had resigned himself to a life wandering worlds until he came across one that was empty and safe.

Riku was walking alone, at least for now. Ansem had let him be for the time being, but he didn't imagine it would last for much longer. The steps of his black boots didn't echo as he moved across the thin strip of dusty brown earth that led forward but Riku almost wished they did, because no other noise was out here besides the howling of the wind. Riku walked with his eyes beneath his hood cast forward, his gaze always locked on the sunset horizon. He had no goal here; he had arrived purely by chance while wandering the corridors. But maybe if he wandered long enough his body would collapse from hunger and fatigue, and Ansem would have nothing to take over.

Well, that _would_ be an option, if the darkness didn't sustain him.

Riku was for, all intents and purposes, a Heartless; not literally, of course, but he was as close as a person could get before turning. Darkness sustained him, it cured his wounds, it answered to his call as easily as it would to any Heartless out there. It was only fitting; after all, he _was_ in the form of Xehanort's Heartless beneath this black coat.

Xehanort… DiZ had told Riku the story of Xehanort and Ansem during the year Sora was asleep. Even aware of the identity theft and everything, though, Riku still had trouble calling his constant unwanted companion anything but 'Ansem'. The name had been scarred into his heart during the time he was possessed by the man, just like the memory.

_"That's not my name. I'm not…Xehanort. My name…is Ansem."_

Riku had heard that line echoing in his heart since the day he had first met Ansem in Hollow Bastion, though at the time he had been unaware of the implications. Even now, having nearly become Ansem himself, he still only heard the voice—there wasn't an image to go alongside it. Maybe that memory of Xehanort's was the real reason that Riku had trouble calling 'Ansem' by his real name. The man seemed to genuinely think he _was_ Ansem the Wise. He was insane…not that Riku hadn't figured that part out long ago.

Gritting his teeth, Riku continued on his path. The land bridge he had been walking down led to a veritable maze of a canyon. A plateau stood in the middle of the path before him, forcing Riku to either climb up it or walk the long way around. He chose the path of least resistance; what was a few more minutes of walking compared to four months? It's not like he had to get anywhere fast, anyway.

The winds were beginning to pick up as he travelled down. With the canyon walls above him there wasn't as much sand being picked up and flying around, but the wind was more than making up for it by causing howls as it flew through the ravines. On more than one occasion Riku had stopped to listen carefully, not sure if he was hearing the wind or some sort of wolf that was about to ambush him. It always turned out to be the former. He was just jumping at shadows—talk about ironic.

Maybe he should have stopped at the Rising Falls instead; the flowing water there always managed to calm him, so that's where he went when he wanted to think. Almost as soon as the thought crossed Riku's mind, however, he dismissed it with a grimace. The Falls were too close to a town. It was best for everyone if he stayed away from people.

The wind had picked up to a speed fast enough to knock his hood back and cause his coat to flap around his legs, and that's when it happened. Through strands of silver hair blowing in his face, Riku saw the shadows at the base of the cliffs grow and undulate. Purple and black orbs of darkness manifested in the air. Heartless were arriving to greet him. Holding a gloved hand out, Riku called on his weapon. A purple cloud formed in his hand and black energy danced at his fingertips. The cloud coalesced into a bat-wing shape before solidifying as the darkness surged through it. Riku crouched into a battle stance, Soul Eater at the ready.

The Heartless were strong, but nothing he couldn't handle. Windstorms circled in the sky above him despite the heavy winds, Wizards hovered just above the ground, and there was even a pair of Invisibles standing between Riku and the path to continue further down the canyon.

Riku stood perfectly still besides subtly digging his heels into the dirt. He was waiting for one of the Heartless to make the first move, and they didn't disappoint. One of the Windstorms swooped down from above, screeching loudly as wind magic surrounded its body. Riku backflipped away and the draconian Heartless slammed hard into a barrier he put up at the last moment. While the Windstorm backed away and shook its head, a disembodied sword and a flurry of Fire spells from flew at Riku.

Riku parried the Invisible's strike with Soul Eater and then ducked low so that the Wizards' spells flew right over his head and into the second Invisible which was sneaking up behind him. A ring of fire from the first Invisible surrounded Riku, as was to be expected. Riku jumped up high just before the ring exploded and while in midair held his sword out in front of him and began to glow with a blue aura.

Dark Aura was unleashed on the Heartless, at least those on the ground. Teleporting through the shadows, Riku appeared and reappeared all across the battlefield and shot at his opponents with his weapon held before him. One Invisible and the Windstorm from earlier exploded into shards of darkness, as well as a number of Wizards. But the other Invisible remained and the other Windstorms continued to circle around in the sky just out of reach. Dark Aura came to a premature end when Riku collided with a Wizard as it cast Thunder, electricity running through his body in painful spasms and the magician Heartless no worse for wear. On his knees, Riku rolled out of the way of the Wizard's next cast and right into the Invisible's sword.

The muscular Heartless swung in an uppercut almost as if his sword were a golf club, knocking Riku from the ground up into the air. One of the Windstorms flew down and snatched Riku in its claws. The Windstorm proceeded to toss Riku toward the cliff walls, a burst of air from its mouth giving him an extra push into the hard rock. Riku fell to the ground and brushed hair and dirt off of his face, watching it blow away in the strong winds. Blue fire flared to life around his hand and he thrust it forward, sending a volley of Dark Firaga at the remaining Invisible and Wizard. While the Invisible was destroyed, the Wizard, as it turned out, was immune to magic. Gritting his teeth, Riku charged forward, leaped into the air, and pierced his blade through the magician's torso.

Only Windstorms remained, flying just out of reach.

But Dark Firaga was more than enough to counter aerial opponents—or so he thought. Riku's next fireball was blown away by a combination of the gale-force winds and the Windstorm's own wind breath attack, scattering the blue embers across the battlefield. Fine then. Riku jumped up as high as he could and charged Soul Eater, forming a blue blade of magic around it. The Windstorm that was his target climbed higher up but Riku swung his sword out in front of him, extending the magical blade further and slicing the Heartless cleanly through the chest. The two halves of the creature vanished inches from the ground.

One down, one to go.

The last remaining Windstorm screeched loudly and dived toward Riku while coating itself in more wind magic. Riku rolled out of the way, though its hook-like tail raked across his coat and tore off shreds of black leather. Stretching his hand out, Riku launched another round of Dark Firaga. The Windstorm swerved out of the way of the incoming fireball and all that his spell accomplished was causing a small avalanche when it crashed into the cliff. Riku groaned, but it did give him an idea.

Riku stood beneath one of the spires of stone that thrust up from the dusty earth; one shaped like a half-arch, with an overhang. The Windstorm, silhouetted against the sun, turned around and dove toward him again. With an ear-piercing screech it launched another burst of air from its mouth, which Riku blocked with a barrier spell. Undeterred, the Windstorm stretched its razor sharp claws out before it, ready to impale Riku. Riku tensed up, ready to move at a moment's notice, but not quite yet.

Almost… Almost…

Now!

Riku jumped high up into the air at the last possible second, avoiding the Windstorm's talons. While in midair he held his hand up and engulfed it in Dark Firaga. The spell was named not at the Heartless, but at the stone. The explosion upon collision with the pillar caused it to crumble and collapse, crushing the Windstorm alive. When Riku landed on the ground, wisps of dark smoke were rising up from beneath the rocks.

Mission accomplished, as it were. But despite the immediate threat being gone, he was still far from safe. The wind had picked up to a point where Riku could barely stand straight anymore, and the howling as it flowed through the canyon was deafening. A barrier at his back protected him from the worst of it, but still his long strands of hair were flying all over in a veritable whirlwind.

A horrible roar further down the canyon, just around a corner, caught Riku's attention and the sky seemed to darken. Riku glanced up, his eyes catching sight of what at first glance he thought was just a low-hanging cloud, but it was moving—fast. Dust, sand, and even small- to middle-sized stones were lifting from the ground and sucked up into it.

A tornado was travelling down the canyon.

This was bad. Riku could fight Heartless and Nobodies and all kinds of _physical_ opponents, but forces of nature were another matter.

"I need to find shelter," he breathed, with just a hint of panic in his voice.

The irony of this situation was not lost on him. That pillar he had destroyed to kill the Windstorm had an overhang, and if it weren't a pile of rubble right now he could have hidden under that. But with that option expended, Riku's eyes quickly scanned the cliff walls for something, anything. A cave, a new overhang, a hole… But no luck.

With the pull of the tornado getting stronger and no safe haven in sight, Riku made his decision. His shadow lifted up off the ground and wrapped around his body, pulling him down into the ground. One instant he stood under the dusty, sunset sky with a tornado moving toward him, and the next he was hovering in pitch black darkness. He had only used this technique once before, in the battle against Saïx. He didn't enjoy using it.

_**Riku…**_

And that was why. _What do you want now?_

_**Is that any way to talk to an old friend?**_ There was laughter behind Ansem's voice—a cold, dark chuckle. Riku hated it.

He knew it was exactly the reaction Ansem wanted, but Riku still couldn't hide the disgust on his face at the mere thought of referring to Ansem as a 'friend.' His enemy's mocking laughter grew darker.

_Leave me alone._

_**Now why would I do that, Riku?**_

Why, indeed? Riku groaned inwardly. Things had been going so _well_ without Ansem speaking to him. He had no one to blame but himself; diving into the darkness like this may have been the only way to avoid the pull of the whirlwind, but it just brought him closer and closer to Ansem's shadow. And speaking of Ansem, he hadn't spoken up again. Riku bit the inside of his cheek. He knew he wasn't gone.

_Where are you, Ansem?_

_**I'm always right beside you.**_

Riku resisted the urge to vomit. It was painful to admit, but Ansem was right. They were constant companions throughout it all. The truth was Ansem had risen up from Riku's heart almost immediately after Castle Oblivion, and for a short time he had regretted his decision to reject Naminé's offer of sleep. It was one day, while wandering the canyons of Hollow Bastion with Mickey, that he had fallen to his knees clutching at his heart and heard the man speak up from within. 'Good morning, Riku,' he had said. Riku could just picture the smirk on his lips then.

_**You could have used my power to end that battle in short order or to counter the tornado.**_

Ansem's comment brought Riku out of his memories. The hell of it was he knew Ansem was right. His powers _could_ easily destroy anything that got in his way, and he had almost considered using them. But…

_No._

_**And why is that? **_Riku imagined that Ansem would be raising an inquisitive, sarcastic eyebrow were he physically here.

Why, indeed? A million possible reasons ran through Riku's head, but all of them could be summed up in four simple words: _Because I'm not you._

Ansem chuckled again, slowly, methodically. It reminded Riku of Xemnas, or what little of Organization XIII's late Superior he had seen anyway. _**You are correct. We're not the same. However… **_There was a jab of pain in Riku's heart and a gloved hand flew up to his chest. _**We are remarkably similar, you and I.**_

Riku bristled. _That's a lie! I'm nothing like you!_

_**Oh, but you are. And deep in your heart of hearts, you know that you are. And now darkness within darkness awaits you. **_Riku felt his chest tighten, as if some invisible hand was reaching inside and squeezing his heart._** You lost the moment you dived this far in.**_

Riku was panting and felt sweat begin to gather at his brow. Strands of his hair – still messy from the wind - hung in front of his face, mocking him with the way they were completely identical to the man he hated so much.

_**Can you feel it, boy? Closing in all around you?**_

The tight feeling in Riku's chest expanded outwards, making his entire body go numb. He gasped for air and flinched away from the darkness, seeing them as an oppressive force. He knew better, but for a moment he could almost imagine black tendrils reaching up and squeezing the life out of him.

Ansem's voice rose as he spoke. He was bordering on shouting now. _**That's right, Riku. Your body, your soul, your whole existence…they're all going to disappear!**_

_NO!_ Riku shouted, straining his muscles against the pressure of the darkness. _I am…NOTHING like you! _He fought and thrashed, screaming silent screams, his shouts of fury swallowed by the darkness. _I'M NOT YOU!_ Riku's hand reached upwards, grasping desperately at some hope that wasn't there. But what use was it? He had nothing to hold on to, nothing to expect. He had dug his own grave diving into the darkness like he had. He had to come to terms with that.

His fingers fell limp…but then he gripped them into a fist and reached higher up. _What the hell am I doing? How am I ever going to face Sora and Kairi…if I fall away like this?_ His muscles were stretched to their limit, his arm felt like it was going to explode…and then it happened. A spark of light emerged above him. Riku reached for it, gripping it firmly, and pulled himself up.

When he emerged from the shadows, Riku collapsed onto the desert ground and rolled onto his back, arms stretched out at his side. As he panted and paused to catch his breath, a soft voice spoke up in the back of his mind.

_**My dark shadow lingers…**_

Riku grimaced at Ansem's comment and stood up. He wasn't in the canyon anymore. He was in a fissure, with a narrow opening in the rock wall in front of him that led to an empty field. "Well…" He swallowed, wetting his dry mouth. "Nowhere to go but forward."

The sandstorm he had encountered when eh first arrived in this world returned now that there were no cliff walls to block it. The field to his left and right were completely empty, nothing but a dusty brown plane extending for miles in every direction. Except…Except for right in front of him.

In front of Riku stood a _massive _plateau that stretched high into the sky, with several smaller plateaus reaching up to various points among its height. In fact, it was so big if he hadn't seen it in the distance before Riku would have imagined that it was a mountain or even a solid rock wall. Whatever it was, it wasn't natural. Even Riku, with no training as a geologist of any sort, could see that.

Normally he would have walked around the plateau, as he had with the one in the canyon. But natural curiosity got the better of Riku and he walked up to the sheer face, gripping tightly on a stone jutting out from the wall and finding footholds in the cracks along the side. Slowly but surely he began climbing it, a speck of black ascending a mountain of brown.

On more than one occasion a voice in the back of his mind told him to use the darkness to speed his climb, but Riku ignored and suppressed Ansem's pushes. Halfway up the plateau Riku accidentally looked right into the oncoming wind and got sand in his eyes for his troubles. After a near-death fall and several well-timed barrier spells, he stood on one of the lower plateaus, pulled up his hood for protection, and continued his ascent.

After what felt to Riku like hours of climbing, he finally reached the top of the highest plateau. Looking out over the edge, he imagined the view would be quite incredible if the air wasn't currently dense with sand and dirt and dust. So…what now? Riku smiled a grim smile, chastising himself for wasting his time—then he chastised himself again, for all he had done in this world in the first place was wander. Riku shook his head and began walking across the plateau. At the very least he'd get a beautiful view once the storm died down.

_**Aqua… Ven…**_

Riku froze. That wasn't Ansem's voice speaking to him. It wasn't even a 'voice' really, more like…like a thought. A sentiment. Some lingering will that had been left behind by whoever had once visited this empty, dead world. Riku turned, noticing something beyond the veil of sand. A strange-shaped boulder or a person? Riku couldn't be sure. Suddenly, the wind stopped completely—without warning. All of the little particles it had been carrying fell and settled on the earth and Riku's coat. He could see now. It wasn't a boulder.

A figure in red and gold armor was kneeling in front of Riku. The helmet of its armor was almost dog-shaped, with 'ears' sticking up from the sides. The color looked like once it would have been vibrant and sparkling, but now it was rusted, scratched, and chipped by years of unfavorable weather. A cape blew softly in the breeze that the sandstorm had left behind, and in the kneeling knight's hands was-

"_In your hand,"  
__A sword appeared in his grip in a flash of light, brown and brass and blue. He kneeled before Riku, smiling at eye level as his brown hair blew softly in the salty sea breeze.  
_"_take this Key…"_

Riku backed away in pure shock at the long-forgotten memory emerging. He pulled off his hood, wide eyes transfixed on the sword – the _Keyblade_, for it could be nothing else – in front of him. "What's going on?" His voice was an awed whisper.

"_And you will find me, friend."_

_**Who are you? **_Riku started in surprise and looked away from the Keyblade, turning instead to its owner. Once again it wasn't Ansem speaking to him; it was the thought, the sentiment, the will—the _knight._ _**I can feel it…we have met before. But when…**_ The knight paused. _**No… It isn't you… It isn't you that I have chosen. **_There was an edge in the knight's 'voice' now, an edge that Riku recognized: suspicion. _**Why isn't it him?**_ With a calm exterior though inside his heart was beating rapidly, Riku summoned Soul Eater and got into a battle position.

_**Xehanort.**_ Riku's eyes widened further. Xehanort? Xehanort, the knight _knew Xehanort!_ And if it knew Xehanort, then- _**Is that you? **_…Then it would think Riku _was_ Xehanort; after all, he looked just like Xehanort's Heartless. Who _wouldn't _make that assumption? _**Xehanort…Xehanort!**_

The knight slowly began climbing to its feet, years of accumulated dirt and stone falling off of its armor. Rusted metal creaked after who knew how many years of sitting still in that position. One gauntleted hand wrapped around the hilt of the familiar Keyblade and pulled it from the ground. The wind slowly began to pick up again, blowing the knight's cape as it held the Keyblade to its side.

_**XEHANOOOORT!**_

With that hate-filled battle cry the knight charged forward, its rage awakened. It brought its heavy Keyblade down in a powerful two-handed swing, which Riku was just barely able to block in time before his head was cleaved in two. Soul Eater struggled against the much larger weapon, and so Riku empowered his other hand with Dark Firaga and thrust it at the knight's chest. The blast blew the knight backwards several feet, but it seemed no worse for wear and was immediately on the offensive once again.

Riku charged forward and met the knight halfway. Soul Eater clanged helplessly against the Keyblade, and the flat of the giant sword knocked Riku to the ground. Riku rolled out of the way as the Keyblade was brought down on him, its brown blade piercing the stone. Climbing back up to his feet, Riku called on Dark Firaga again and launched the fireball toward his opponent.

That was a mistake.

The knight would have roared if it had an actual voice. It ran at full speed toward Riku and kicked him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Then the knight began swinging rapidly, unguided—its anger was guiding its blows, not any plan or training. A spinning strike knocked Riku to the floor again, followed by three jumping attacks, the last of which caused the earth beneath to explode upwards and knock Riku into the air.

The knight wasn't finished yet. Before Riku's startled eyes, its Keyblade _transformed._ The blade flew away from the hilt with a cord attaching the two of them, and the knight swung around its new whip with unbridled fury. Riku was lashed several times in the air; painful, horrible lashes. He crashed into the ground again only to get blindsided by a massive broadsword that was yet another transformation the knight's Keyblade had taken.

Riku struggled up to his feet, calling on a barrier to prevent the knight's next few swings. Transforming weapons? "Two can play at that game," he growled under his breath. A cloud of darkness shifted around Soul Eater and extended, forming and solidifying into a dual-bladed javelin. And just in time, too; the barrier shattered and the knight dashed through the air, striking Riku once and flying past at unbelievable speed. It spun around in midair and flew at him again, in some imitation of Sora's Sonic Blade. On the third go around Riku blocked the attack with the length of his javelin and repelled the knight. With his opponent momentarily stunned, Riku unleashed a combo attack on the knight, chipping away at its armor and digging the javelin into gaps in the armor.

The knight recovered. It swung its Keyblade at Riku and knocked him away, and then jumped back and held its Keyblade to the side with both hands. It stood there silently for a few long moments, causing Riku to wonder if maybe something had happened to it… There! The knight took a single step forward and then _vanished_, disappearing from Riku's sight completely. Suddenly a sharp pain ran through his body and a clean slice left a gash through his black coat and the clothes beneath, exposing a red line of blood on his side. The knight reappeared behind Riku and twirled its Keyblade in its hand before turning to face him again.

Riku growled and pulled mentally on his shadow. "Come, Guardian!" The shadow bubbled and rose, forming Xehanort's shadowy other, the black and blue creature with a heart-shaped hole in its torso. The Guardian roared behind Riku and flew forward at the knight as Riku himself crossed his arms and levitated up into the air. He had to take a new approach to the fight, as the direct method simply wasn't working.

The knight took up its new opponent with gusto, once again extending its Keyblade into a whip and swinging it here and there to strike at the Guardian. The Guardian's tough, leathery skin repelled the blows, allowing it to get close to the knight and trap it in its powerful grip. The Guardian ascended quickly into the air with its prisoner, flipped around, and brought it down hard onto the ground.

The knight climbed up from the small crater that had formed, bits of its armor chipping away, and swung at the Guardian again. The Guardian floated backwards and dark energy formed around its hands. It swung them forward one at a time, firing discs of black magic at the knight. The knight responded by changing its Keyblade into the broadsword shape once again and swinging wildly to deflect the blows.

Up above, Riku was charging magic of his own. Three purple orbs appeared around his body in a triangular formation and Riku swung his javelin downward, toward the knight. Each orb fired a blue beam downward, piercing the knight. The Guardian brought a powerful fist forward, aiming for the knight's helmet, but the knight recovered from the beams and spun out of the way of the Guardian's punch. The orbs began firing their beams once again and so the knight took off running, the beams and Guardian in pursuit.

But Riku couldn't keep the orbs up forever. When they faded back into darkness and their assault halted, the knight spun around on its heel and faced the Guardian with its Keyblade glowing with a fiery red aura. After knocking the Guardian away with a powerful swing, the knight jumped high up into the air and held the Keyblade above its head. The fiery aura grew brighter and hotter, and then the knight brought its Keyblade down with a resounding _CRASH_ onto the Guardian_._ Earth flared up beneath the shockwave and shot stones into the sky, which then ignited as the Keyblade had and fell back down onto the Guardian as miniature meteors.

The Guardian floated there, twitching in pain as shadow smoke lifted from its body. The knight performed another series of jumping and spinning attacks and sent it flying into a nearby pillar of stone, before glancing up at the levitating Riku. It spread its legs apart and held the Keyblade out to its side, then tossed the Keyblade high into the sky in a wide arc. At the apex of its arc the Keyblade flashed, and what came back down was no sword at all. The knight jumped onto the new…craft? Motorcycle? Whatever it was, the knight jumped aboard it and lifted into the sky.

He could _FLY?!_

Riku watched carefully as the knight circled the plateau at incredible speeds. His hands were slick with sweat beneath his gloves, and he was thankful for the leather or else his javelin would no doubt slip from his grasp. After the knight's third circle around with its mysterious Keyblade glider, it turned on a dime and flew straight toward Riku. It jumped off and crashed into Riku as the glider sailed off into the horizon. Riku struggled against the strong armored arms even as the two of them fell from the air. One painful collision with the earth below later and Riku was lying on the ground with a sharp brown Keyblade pressed against his neck, the knight having called it back into its hand.

"Come, Guardian!" The shadowy protector answered Riku's urgent plea, flying from the stone it had previously been knocked into and tackling the knight to the side. Riku picked up the nearby Soul Eater javelin and climbed to his feet, panting as he held a hand over a new gash in his skin that had been formed by the crash. The knight knocked the Guardian away with little effort, flinging it around with its whip attack, before marching toward Riku with its cape billowing in the wind.

The Guardian shot out of Riku's shadow once more, wrapped its hands around the knight, spun around rapidly, and then tossed it far away from its master. The knight, undaunted, tossed its Keyblade above it. Unlike before it did not go sailing into the sky, instead flipping in the air just above his head and growing to immense size. A gigantic _cannon_ was now in the knight's grip and began charging, a sphere of light forming in its mouth. Riku took a careful step backwards and the Guardian crossed its arms over its chest, moving protectively in front of him.

The cannon fired, the force of its power knocking the knight back several feet. The massive orb of light hit the Guardian and for an instant it appeared to do nothing, but then the Guardian let out a blood-curdling cry – Riku had _never_ heard it make a sound before! – and disintegrated into tiny black particles that were consumed by the light. At the last possible moment Riku through up a barrier in front of him, only for it to crack and shatter under the power of the cannon's blast. The projectile and subsequent explosion sent Riku flying toward the edge of the plateau, and Riku dug his javelin into the earth to keep from falling off. It didn't stop his momentum, though it did slow him just enough so that he was teetering on the brink rather than falling to his death. In the process the javelin snapped in two, leaving Riku with just Soul Eater the sword once again.

The knight ran at Riku, not content to end the fight there. Riku launched a volley of Dark Firaga, but the knight leaped through the blue explosion that the spell left behind and brought its Keyblade down. Riku parried the blow although his strength was waning, so he shot his foot out and tripped the knight up. The armored figure toppled forward and Riku slammed its elbow into the back of its head then spun around and dug his blade into its neck. The knight fell off the edge of the plateau only to reappear a moment later flying into the sky on its glider. It jumped off and fell back to Riku with its Keyblade primed. Riku dodged the attack and held Soul Eater out in front of him, ready to perform Dark Aura…but the knight wouldn't allow him to do that.

Its entire body glowed gold and it held its Keyblade forward. Chains made of pure light flew from the tip and wrapped themselves around Riku. "What?!" Grunting and straining, he fought against the solid light digging into him and burning his skin. His feet, floating a few feet off the ground, kicked desperately as he groaned against the ever-tightening chains.

The knight, still glowing, floated high into the air and held its Keyblade out once more. A sphere of light surrounded it to compliment its aura and more chains flew out of its weapon. Their razor sharp tips dug into the earth before Riku in a circular pattern and the plateau rumbled. Riku stopped struggling and watched in awe and terror as the chains tore a giant piece of earth out of the ground and lifted it into the air. The knight swung its Keyblade downward and the chains released, dropping the earth down toward Riku as it ignited with holy fire. Riku again resumed his fight against the chains binding him, but it was too late. Pure, overwhelming, unparalleled _pain _shot through Riku's body as a brilliant flash of gold and white took over his vision.

Everything went black.

Riku couldn't feel his limbs save for one arm propped up against his chest. Half of his body was crushed by stone and earth, and he now lay under a pile of rubble. Tiny shafts of sunset light came in through the cracks.

_**Riku…**_

Ugh, not now. "What…do you…want?" Riku asked through heavy pants. It hurt to speak. It hurt to _breathe_.

_**Is that how you thank me for saving your life? **_Ansem chuckled. _**My darkness coursing through your veins keeps you alive. You would have died if not for me.**_

"I don't…need you…"Riku groaned and attempted to sit up. His body wouldn't listen.

_**Oh, but you do. Take in my power. Open your heart to darkness once again.**_

"No… I…" Riku shook his head weakly. "I can't… I'm…not you…"

_**Stubborn boy…**_

Ansem's presence faded away, at least for now. A moment later there was another horrible explosion and the rocks surrounding Riku's broken body flew away, exposing him to the light once more. The knight took slow steps forward, its heavy, rusted boots clinking against the stone.

_**Xehanort…**_

Riku pressed his good hand against the earth, spreading his fingers onto the sandy stone.

_**Xehanort!**_

The Keyblade came down and Riku rolled out of the way, biting his tongue to keep from crying out in pain as his body screamed in protest. The Keyblade pierced the stone instead of him, but the knight pulled it out and held it above its head, ready to strike again. Riku wouldn't be able to avoid it this time, he knew. His pressed his hand against the earth once more and called on the darkness with the very last of his strength. A corridor opened up beneath him and Riku fell inside, letting the shadows work their magic and heal his wounds as they took his body to who-knows-where.

Anywhere but here.

The knight didn't follow him. The last thing Riku saw before the corridor closed, before his consciousness slipped away, was the knight piercing its Keyblade into the ground and kneel down in absolute silence, exactly as it had been when he had found it. As he fell into sleep, Riku heard the knight speak one last time.

_**One day I will set this right.**_


	13. The Wedding of the Century

**Chapter 13: The Wedding of the Century**

It's funny how easily people are able to go back to their old lives when surrounded by familiar faces, no matter how long they had been apart from it. Not that Xion's break had been especially long, but immediately upon boarding the Gummi ship she was back in the routine as if nothing had happened. In fact, she had been doing a bit more than before, perhaps to make up for lost time. Donald needed a second hand at the controls? Xion was there. Stop Goofy from blowing up half the ship while making dinner? She was on it.

Right now, though, Xion was sitting on her bed in the little room she had been given before. Her jacket and boots were off and she dug her feet into the sheets. Everything was exactly the way she had left it; in fact, she would have thought everything that had happened recently was a dream were it not for Jiminy sitting on the nightstand with his journal open.

"And you say you had a whole lifetime of memories in there?" The little cricket lifted his hat and scratched his head with the back of his pen before returning it to the pages.

Xion was silent, opening her mouth on more than one occasion but snapping it shut after deciding to phrase things different. Finally she pulled her knees up to her chest and nodded. "Yeah, though it was more like a summary. Only some important moments had detailed memories."

Jiminy scribbled Xion's words into the journal and then glanced up at her. "Hm, I wonder how they managed that without Naminé?"

"Sora said that that Tron guy he met told him." Xion fell back onto the pillow and grasped at Stitch's charm, once again expecting it to be a thalassa shell that her fingers found instead of the smooth stone. "He said that in that world we're as easy to change as programs."

Jiminy nodded as he wrote that bit down into the journal as well. "Well gosh, maybe I should be asking Sora some questions too. I'd like to have an entry on this Tron fellow."

"It'll have to wait." Xion sat up and Jiminy turned his head, both looking to the open door where Kairi had entered. The red-headed girl smiled and pointed down the hall. "Donald says we're coming to the next world. We're starting the search for Riku in a place called, um…" She frowned and looked up to the ceiling, sorting through her memory to recall the world's name. "Agrabah?"

"Agrabah?" Xion slid off the bed and grabbed her jacket. "That's our next stop?"

"Yeah, I think so. Is it a world you've been to before?"

"We've been twice, and Xion has once!" Jiminy piped up as he jumped down to the tile floor. "Golly, I wonder what trouble you'll get into this time?"

"Well, actually, I went there a few times with the Organization," Xion said. Then she turned to Kairi. "Agrabah is Jasmine's home."

"Oh!" Kairi's face brightened. "Jasmine! Okay, come on, let's get going!" Kairi took off down the halls of the ship and Xion followed in a hurry, trying to catch up to her with one boot only halfway on. Jiminy's calls for them to slow down were drowned out as the halls opened up to the cockpit of the _Highwind_, with Donald sitting in the pilot's chair and Goofy humming a song in his own seat. Sora, however, was up on his feet with his hands on the window sill as he looked out at the sandy world coming into view.

Kairi joined him by the window. "Is that it?"

"Yeah," Sora said with a nod. He pointed out the window to a darker section of the world as they flew closer. "That's the Cave of Wonders where Aladdin found Genie's lamp." They flew into the sun now, passing over the ruined city they had seen in their last visit. "And that's where we flew through a maze of invisible walls with Genie's powers."

Kairi nudged Sora in the side and giggled. "Half of what you just said flew over my head."

"Well, I guess we'll have to introduce you to everyone!"

Over the next hill Agrabah was revealed in all of its shining glory. In fact, Xion thought, it looked even shinier than usual, especially the palace. It appeared to have been polished to perfection. The rest of the buildings were decorated with vines and flowers of all kinds, and a huge line of people, including what appeared to be twenty camels, were standing at the gates to the city.

"I wonder what's going on?" Donald asked, turning his attention for the moment from the controls to the city.

"Looks like some kinda party!" Goofy said with a laugh. "Gawrsh, won't they be surprised when we show up to join in!"

Xion, however, noticed something besides all the decorations and crowds of people. "Look." A little beyond the city limits was a swarm of Bandit Heartless and Dancer Nobodies battling it out in the desert. One of the Dancers knocked a pair of Bandits up into the air and they appeared to crash into something invisible, stopping in midair and then falling into the sand. For the briefest of moments a massive dome of interlocking hexagons appeared around the entire city of Agrabah. "There's a barrier protecting the city from the fighting." It must have been Genie who set it up, likely alongside Jasmine with her Princess of Heart powers. Genie had done something similar to keep Jafar out in their last visit, hadn't he?

"How are we supposed to get in?" Donald wondered.

"All those people at the gates don't seem to have a problem," Kairi pointed out. "Maybe it just blocks Heartless and Nobodies." In proof of her point, the _Highwind_ passed harmlessly through the space that the barrier occupied as if there was nothing there.

Donald brought the ship down a little ways away from the line of people outside Agrabah, kicking up sand in a small storm as it descended. Goofy handed out canteens of water to everyone as they made their way to the exit, which Xion was thankful for. Last time she had nearly passed out in the desert from thirst, before the peddler had found her.

"I'll stay here to hold down the fort!" Jiminy called from the cockpit. "Bring back some stories for my journal!"

Sora's hand was on the door, but he hadn't opened it yet. "It's going to be really hot and really dry," he warned Kairi behind him.

Kairi smiled and shrugged. "I'm ready for it." She held a hand up and showed off her magic by making droplets of water swirling around her arm.

"If you say so…"

But despite Kairi's assurances, she reacted with a shocked gasp when the door opened up and Agrabah's dry desert air immediately flowed inside of the ship. While Donald scrambled to push everyone out before the hallway was filled with sand, Xion brought a pair of fingers up to her suddenly parched lips. Reaching for her canteen, she caught a glimpse of Kairi behind her already taking a long gulp of her own.

"Don't you want to save that?" Sora asked with a chuckle. "I warned you." Kairi glared playfully at him and one Watera spell later the group was marching over the dunes with a very wet Sora in the back.

As they came over the last dune and approached the city gates, Xion saw the camels she had noticed from above heading inside—each one had two baskets strapped to them, and the owner of the camels was walking to each one and patting a hand on the lids. Their owner was a tall man with a blue cloak wrapped around his face and body and held together with a golden badge, which on the one hand Xion thought seemed rather suspicious but on the other hand it appeared reasonable for desert travel.

The dome barrier around them rumbled again as Heartless and Nobodies continued to fight outside. The crowds of people waiting to enter Agrabah murmured worriedly in all kinds of languages, glancing up now and then at the hexagons with evident concern that they wouldn't hold.

"Don't worry," the familiar growling voice of the guard assured everyone. Xion recognized him—Razoul, was it? He was the guard Iago had been hiding from last time. "The genie's barrier has held this long. It won't fall any time soon." Razoul, with his arms crossed, watched as the nervous visitors continued through the stone arch and into the city. As he only gave people the barest of uninterested glances when they passed in front of him, Xion was surprised when his tan hand was held in front of her and halted their group.

"Well, well." Razoul leaned forward with his hands on his hips and smile, exposing a missing tooth. "If it isn't the 'new court wizard.'"

Xion smiled awkwardly at the large man while everyone else gave her weird looks. "Hey there, it's been a while."

"What lie are you going to spout to get in this time?" Razoul asked, straightening up, crossing his arms, and raising an eyebrow.

"Hopefully none?"

Razoul grimaced. "Well, the gates _are_ open to everyone today." He looked to Sora, Donald, and Goofy behind her. "And I imagine the street rat would like to see his friends. However-"

"Oh my, such a crowd!" A frail old man with a bushy grey mustache walked up to them, speaking to Razoul. A large pack was on his back, burdening him and lowering his body to the ground. It looked rather painful. "In all my years, never have I seen the streets so full of bustle and hustle and assorted commotion."

Razoul eyed the old man warily, but he seemed harmless. "Our princess is to wed," he explained.

"Jasmine's getting married?!" Sora asked with a gigantic smile. "That's great!"

"Yes, wonderful!" the man agreed with a nod. "And who's the lucky prince?"

"Not a prince at all," Razoul spat. "Just a no-account _street rat!_"

Donald glared at Razoul and moved forward, shaking a finger at the guard. "Hey, that's no way to talk about-"

"No way!" The old man tossed his pack off and stood up straight. His tanned skin faded away, revealing a jolly blue Genie underneath. Genie grabbed the shocked Razoul and grinned wildly. "Try it phonetically. It's AAAALADDIN!" Fireworks erupted from his fingertips and light weaved through the air, spelling out their friend's name in the sky. Razoul grumbled and walked away, leaving Genie standing in front of the gates with the group.

"Hey, Genie! We missed you!" Sora said, running up to the big blue lug.

Genie turned around with a ridiculously, impossibly huge smile on his face and scooped all of them up in a giant hug. "Sora, Donald, Goofy!" He glanced to their right. "Xion! I knew it, I told you you'd be pals next time I saw you! And…" He looked to Kairi and frowned. "…Red Xion! Oh, it's good to see you all again!"

Kairi laughed awkwardly, apparently a little overwhelmed by Genie's energetic personality. "My name's Kairi. We haven't met before."

"Oh thank goodness. For a moment there I thought I was losing my marbles." To emphasize his point, a brown bag appeared in Genie's hand and he held it upside down, pouring glass marbles into the sand.

Goofy scratched his head. "Gawrsh Genie, can ya tell us why the city is so busy?"

"Of course! Why the decorations, guests, and all-around hubbub? It's really quite simple, you see…" With a flash of light and a puff of blue smoke, all of them were suddenly standing in the middle of the crowded Agrabah streets while Genie held a snowglobe miniature of the city in his hand.

"There's a party here in Agrabah, there's excitement in the air. People pouring in from near and far, 'cause Jasmine and Aladdin are gonna have a weddin'!"

"They're finally getting married?" Donald asked.

"You bet! There's a party here in Agrabah, and everybody will be there." He ran up to two citizens and held them closely. "So if you're a pauper or a shah, do somethin' with your hair!" Then he turned back to them and leaned in close, investigating their appearances. Genie grabbed Goofy's arm and checked his sleeve with a measuring tape.

"You mustn't wear an outfit that's naughty," he explained while pointing behind him to a pair of women on the street corner. "And a turban that's unraveling just won't do. No earrings that are tasteless or gaudy…" Genie poofed up a fashion designer's outfit for himself, complete with a measuring tape hanging around his neck. "You're gonna look gorgeous when I get through." He gripped at one of the zippers on Sora's outfit and pulled, and in another puff of smoke the boy was standing in fancy, traditional Agrabah clothing. With a snap of his fingers the rest of them were dressed similarly.

While Donald admired his reflection, Sora took off the poofy white hat he had been given and allowed his hair to spike back up. He turned to the girls only to immediately look away and try to hide his reddening face.

Kairi glanced down at the frankly rather revealing pink outfit that Genie had put her in with some dismay. "How does Jasmine stand wearing this…?" Tugging at the blue cloth on her arm, Xion had to agree with her sentiments.

Genie didn't seem to hear her. "I like it! Now, it still needs something else… What does it say to me? It says…mode of transportation!" He whistled loudly and soon a familiar purple and gold carpet flew out of the palace and down to them. As Carpet approached Genie cast another spell and made him grow. Before anyone really even realized what was happening Genie had shoved all of them onto Carpet and they took off into the sky.

"I'm so lost right now," Kairi said with a small laugh.

Xion smiled and shook her head. "Same here, and I've even been here before."

Goofy grinned and held his hat down to keep it from blowing off. "That's just Genie for ya!"

Genie showed up next to them, dressed in a sharp suit and holding a microphone. "And now we take you down to the palace, where everyone has celebrated all night long."

A second Genie suddenly appeared on the other side of carpet. This one had a baseball cap on and was holding a skateboard. "Without Jafar and all of his malice, everybody's happy!"

The first Genie shoved the second one out of the way. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Xion considered that question as they soared over the decorated buildings. With the Heartless and Nobodies kept out by Genie's barrier and Jafar gone, what else was there? The occasional party-crashing thief, perhaps, but no doubt the palace guards could keep them out. That's what they were trained for, after all.

Carpet flew through a large window in the palace and shrunk down to normal size, dropping everyone off in the large but empty chamber. Genie arrived a moment later and stretched his arms. "My buddy's getting married and you're gonna see just how much I can do!" Holding his hands up high, bolts of light and fireworks flew out all around them. Xion blinked her eyes to adjust to the bright light, and as she looked up the room was now decorated rather extravagantly. A podium with a pavilion around it stood at one end, with a carpet leading down the stairs, across the shining, polished floors and to the gold-lined door at the other end room. Piles of gold and jewels lined the walls near the door.

"Genie, this is wonderful!" Xion exclaimed. "Al and Jasmine are going to love it."

"Boy, I sure hope so! Now then..." Genie landed in front of the group with a notebook in his hands. "We have five unexpected guests, which mean that the cooks need to account for you! Will you be having the chicken or the sea bass?"

Sora chuckled and walked past Genie over to one of the windows. "Where are Aladdin and Jasmine, anyway?"

"Oh, they're in the gardens." Genie blinked. "Oh! They're gonna be late for their own wedding at this rate! Kids, can ya help me get them?"

"Leave it to us, I guess," Kairi said. She leaned over to Goofy. "Who's Aladdin?"

Goofy chuckled. "Aladdin's our pal! He's Jasmine's true love."

Kairi smiled. "Okay, yup. Leave it to us!"

But despite all of this, something was bugging Xion; or rather, a certain lack of something. "Genie, where's Iago?"

Genie's good mood noticeably deflated. "Oh. He's over there." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, toward the pile of treasure where a familiar red parrot was digging through the gold.

"I like this wedding stuff so far!" Iago said to himself, apparently not noticing everyone else yet. "Maybe if I'm pleasant, I'll get to keep a present."

"Iago!"

The parrot turned around at Xion's voice and dropped the golden chalice he was holding. "Well, if it isn't Xion and the Key-kids! Where have you been lately?"

"Have you stayed good?" Sora asked with a smirk.

"I have! I swear, I've gone straight!" Iago coughed and kicked away a jewel that he had picked up during their conversation. "A-Anyway, shouldn't you go find the lovebirds? I'll just, uh…I'll watch the wedding gifts, yeah."

"I hate to leave the bird alone, but he's right." Genie looked out the windows with a pair of binoculars. "Ah-ha! Found 'em! Look at those two lovebirds, sitting so close together… Getting it on like-_oh_. Oh, those are actual birds. My mistake." He turned away, looking in a completely different direction. "_There_ they are! Come on men, we have a wedding to get to!" Genie poofed away in a puff of blue smoke, but apparently had forgotten to take them with him because everyone else still stood in the large chamber.

"…So…" Kairi began slowly. "Do we…go see them?"

"I guess so." Sora shrugged. He glanced over to the treasure, where Iago had been joined by a drooling white duck. "Donald, come on!"

Donald grumbled and peeled his eyes away from the rubies. "I'm coming, I'm coming…"

The first thing that came to mind about Agrabah's palace was how _big _it was. They wandered around for quite a while before a helpful Carpet directed them down the correct corridor. As they walked down the white and gold halls, Xion felt a tap on her shoulder and looked over to see a questioning Kairi.

"So what was up with the bird back there?"

"Oh, Iago. We have a bit of a history. Last time I was here he wanted my help to apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine; he used to work for Jafar, who was one of the villains looking for the Princesses of Heart."

Kairi gave a concerned frown. "Should we really trust him then?"

Xion shook her head. "Iago's good at heart, he's just cowardly. And greedy. Like Donald, but worse."

"I heard that!" Donald quacked from in front of them. The two girls laughed.

The palace gardens were just as big and fancy as everything else there. Carefully trimmed hedges and colorful flowers surrounded a marble fountain where the three familiar figures sat on the water's edge. Aladdin, dressed in white, blue, and gold, held a sheathed dagger in his hand as he spoke to Jasmine and Genie. Xion could just barely hear the tail-end of his words as they arrived.

"…and it's all that's left of my father."

"Your father?" Genie asked, scratching his head. "Why, I don't think you've ever mentioned your father before. Oh, another unexpected guest! Al, quick, tell me: will he want the chicken or the sea bass?!"

Aladdin shook his head and clipped the dagger onto his belt. "He's not coming, Genie. He died a long time ago."

"Oh… Oh, Al. I'm sorry."

Jasmine placed her hand on Aladdin's. "It's never easy to lose family. My mother, too…"

Aladdin shook his head. "I didn't just lose him—I never knew him. I never learned from him. What do I know about raising a family?"

Sora, not one to see a friend depressed, immediately marched forward to the fountain. "Hey, cheer up, Al! Isn't today your big day?"

Aladdin glanced up in surprise, and Jasmine's face mirrored his own. "Sora?" He tried to stifle a laugh but failed. "What are you _wearing?_" Sora tugged at the white cloth while Genie muttered under his breath about critics. "Never mind, this is great! When did you guys arrive?"

"Just a bit ago. And it's not just me, Donald, and Goofy. Xion and Kairi are here too!" Aladdin glanced behind Sora and while his smile didn't fade it did weaken. Xion held her breath. The last time she and Aladdin had met, she had accidentally screwed everything up by allowing Jafar into Agrabah.

"Hey, a friend of yours is a friend of mine." Aladdin grinned and walked over to Xion, holding a hand out. "Let's start over, okay?"

Xion smiled and took Al's hand. "Sure thing."

Jasmine and Kairi, meanwhile, had immediately started talking like old friends. Even despite the short time they had met back in Hollow Bastion, it seemed that the Princesses of Heart had a special sort of bond.

"I can't believe we came just as you're getting married!" Kairi said happily.

"I know! This is such a great coincidence! I'm glad to have a friend here to see this!"

Xion, for her part, didn't join in the celebrations. Her eyes were locked on the dagger hanging from Aladdin's hip—more specifically, on the golden hand sigil on the hilt. Where had she seen that symbol before…?

**x-x-x**

Abis Mal had fallen on hard times. During the battle with those Organizer guys, he had fled the castle without a second thought. And he didn't regret that decision in the least, because the little man knew without a doubt that he would have died to the Heartless had he stayed behind. But after returning to Agrabah, things had gone south for him. Reduced to petty thievery to survive, day after day eating half a loaf of stale bread, or a rotten melon. Oh sure, he had always been a thief before, granted, but at least he hadn't been a street rat.

When the Heartless arrived several weeks later, Abis Mal had thought for sure that Maleficent was coming for him. But the Genie's barrier kept the shadows out of the city, and for that he was thankful. Still, though, it didn't fill his belly or his greed.

But that was all about to change.

Today was the royal wedding, which meant jewels and gold of all sorts in the palace. Oh sure, security would be tighter, but Abis Mal had learned enough with Maleficent and Pete to at the very least know how to open a corridor of darkness. He'd get in, take his fill, and get out before anyone would notice him.

Chuckling to himself, the little man barely noticed the herd of camels walking in his path led by a man in a blue cloak. The man looked down at the golden badge holding his cloak together, marked with a hand emblem, and dusted the sand off of it before ordering the camels to halt. When one of the many baskets clinging to the camels started to tear open, Abis Mal quickly ran and hid behind a wall.

"Why must we wait and hide while _you_ get to wander freely, Cassim?" The speaker was a growly, rough voice. Abis Mal spared a glance to see a tall, muscular man with grey skin and a bald head. He was speaking to the cloaked man.

"One of us has to keep a cool head, Sa'luk." The cloaked man – Cassim, apparently – said. His voice was a deep, intimidating baritone.

Sa'luk scoffed. "Are we ready yet?"

"Nearly. While they're all munching caviar, create a small disturbance. I'll sneak in from behind."

Sa'luk glanced behind him, eyeing a nearby elephant. He grinned. "Oh, you'll get your disturbance, Cassim. How about a parade?"

"As long as no one gets hurt," Cassim warned with a pointed finger. Sa'luk grumbled in disgust at the order but nodded his head in acknowledgement. With that Cassim ran off.

Sa'luk turned to the camels once his leader was out of sight. "Men, it's time!" Muffled cheers rose up from the camels and the baskets began to open and tear apart. Scoundrels and villains of all shapes and sizes came pouring out of their hiding place, a total of thirty-eight in all. Counting Cassim and Sa'Luk that made forty. And Abis Mal knew what that meant.

The legendary and infamous Forty Thieves were in Agrabah. They were after the wedding gifts, just the same as him.

Abis Mal gulped. Things may have just gotten very good for him, or more likely very, _very_ bad.


	14. The King of Thieves

**Chapter 14: The King of Thieves**

Cassim had stolen from a lot of extravagant weddings in his time with the Forty Thieves, but this was perhaps the most extravagant of all—he would go so far as to call it unnecessarily so. From his position on a ledge near the ceiling, hidden in the shadows, Cassim watched as the blue-skinned man paraded through the crowds with his trumpet blowing loudly. The groom, a handsome young lad with a messy mop of black hair, stood nervously at the end of the aisle next to his three friends: one teenage boy with spiky brown hair and two strange foreigners the likes of which Cassim had never seen. Across from them, near where the bride would stand when she arrived, were two teenage girls with identical faces—they could only be twin sisters. But his interest lingered on the groom. Something about him, about his face and his eyes, seemed so…so…

Cassim shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned back to the large pile of treasure and presents by the door. Sa'luk and the others would be beginning soon. He had to be ready.

The bride, Princess Jasmine herself, came down the aisle and took her place next to the boy. The Sultan of Agrabah ran up to the podium and began a speech while the blue man began crying into a handkerchief. Cassim glanced out the window, where he could spy one of his men walking up to an elephant. The time had come.

The Sultan was asking the groom to take his vows when the deafening sound of an elephant's trumpet shook the room. The following earthquake from the miniature stampede that his men had caused threatened to knock Cassim down from his perch. Everyone's attention turned to the front door as the elephants came charging in and all chaos broke out. While the elephants rampaged through the room, the remaining thirty-nine thieves arrived and began pilfering everything they could from the stunned guests.

To the groom's credit, he and his friends tossed away their own surprise and were on the scene immediately. Cassim's eyes widened at the multicolored lights that flashed from their weapons and danced on their fingertips; he was no expert but he knew magic when he saw it, and this was definitely powerful magic. But he couldn't allow that to distract him. While the boy and his friends dealt with the thieves – and there was no doubt in Cassim's mind that they would win, not after seeing that magical display – he had to hurry and find the treasure he was after. Carefully Cassim ran along the edge near the ceiling and then down behind the chaos to land by the front door. He started digging through the pile of presents without delay, shoving gem-lined chalices and golden chests aside in his search.

"Hey! What do you think you're doin'?!"

Cassim spun around at the scratching voice yelling at him. The speaker wasn't some guard or any of the wedding guests, but a little red parrot that could speak. "More sorcery," he muttered under his breath. Then, speaking to the parrot, he said "You shouldn't antagonize people bigger than you."

The parrot flinched back, intimidated. He gulped and hopped up onto a nearby statue so he was eye level with Cassim. "You're not takin' any of this stuff while I'm around!"

Cassim was amused at the bratty parrot's gusto, even if he could tell in his eyes that there wasn't enough courage to back up the threat. "If that's how it's going to be…" Cassim reached out and gripped the parrot tightly with one hand. While it choked and begged him to let go he grabbed a chest with his other hand and poured its contents out onto the floor before shoving the parrot inside. The bird ranted and raved from within the chest, so Cassim placed a heavy decorative lamp on top to keep the lid shut tight.

"Now then, back to business."

Nothing was on this wall, so Cassim turned to the next one to look through the presents there. To his surprise, he wasn't alone—and it wasn't one of his men, either. A short, fat man was digging through the treasures frantically and muttering quietly to himself. Cassim couldn't make out the words. When the stranger's hands found a long golden staff with an emerald at the tip, however, Cassim's eyes widened. There it was!

"Ooh, this will fetch a pretty penny." The man held it up to the light, watching the emerald sparkle against the sun. Cassim tightened the cloak around his face and approached the short man, tapping him on the shoulder. The man jumped back in surprise, evidently not expecting to be seen. The staff slipped from his grip and clattered to the ground.

"I believe you have something of mine."

"O-Oh yeah? Says who?"

"That's no business of yours."

The short man kneeled down and picked the staff up. "Look bud, just let me have this. Let me have this, a-and your Forty Thieves can have everything else!" He took a step backwards. "Please? W-We don't need to turn this into a big deal."

"I'm afraid that is all I care for. Hand it over."

The fat man quirked an eyebrow questioningly. Cassim couldn't blame him, for the Forty Thieves were never known to leave treasure behind. But if he got that staff then he'd be set for life. He didn't need the trinkets scattered around them.

Cassim held his hand out, signaling to the fat man to hand it over. The man glanced between Cassim, the staff, and the assorted treasures. "So…" he began slowly. "You get this, I get everything else?"

Sa'luk wouldn't like that, Cassim knew, but he was sworn to follow the King of Thieves. Cassim opened his mouth to agree to the little thief's deal when the booming voice of the groom's blue-skinned companion rose above the crowd with a sudden shout.

"Thirty, thirty-two, thirty-four…" What was he counting? "Al! It's the Forty Thieves!"

The foreigner with a face resembling a dog knocked one of Cassim's men away with his shield and turned to the blue one. "But uh, I only see thirty-nine!"

The groom – the one called Al – looked around and locked eyes with Cassim. "Forty." Cassim felt his shoulders fall slightly, but he recovered quickly enough. He hadn't intended to be seen but what's done was done.

A loud quacking sound pulled Cassim's attention to the apparent wizard of the group. "Wak, and that's Abis Mal!" Cassim looked over his shoulder at the fat man who appeared to be trying to hide. So they had a history?

He'd have to worry about it later. Al ran forward with a scimitar drawn, and so Cassim replied by pulling his own blade out from beneath his cloak. Their swords clashed, but the boy's was simply a ceremonial blade meant for the wedding—hardly useful for combat. Despite that, he showed remarkable skill in swordplay. This was no pampered prince.

Their movements were a dance, a clash of metal on metal that rang out among the chorus of cheers and cries from the thieves and wedding guests. "I'm surprised a thief is so good at up-front attacks," Al said. "The idea is to sneak by in the shadows, didn't you get the memo?"

Cassim smiled beneath his mask. "That's the _King_ of Thieves to you, boy!" Al's eyes widened, the revelation stunning him for just a brief moment—not long, but long enough. Cassim knocked the boy's scimitar out of his hand and watched as it clattered on the ground some yards away. He ducked down and swung his leg out in an arc, knocking the groom's feet from out from under him. While the boy recovered from his fall, Cassim reached for the staff he wanted only to find that the one called Abis Mal still had it in his own hands.

Before Cassim could return to negotiating with Abis Mal, he suddenly found himself surrounded by a legion of blue men dressed in black, pointing strange weapons unlike any he had seen at him. "Do not attempt to move or we will be shooting ourselves!"

Cassim growled. Fine then, the mission was a failure. "Forty Thieves, retreat!"

"What?!" Sa'luk roared. Cassim couldn't see him, wherever he was.

"That is an order! Take what loot you can and run!" Cassim spared a glance behind him. Perfect, there was a window. He backed up and the blue-skinned soldiers closed in. He smiled beneath his mask. "Well fought, gentlemen. You will always remember this as the day you _almost_ caught the King of Thieves!" With a bow he leaned back, falling out the window and to safety.

**x-x-x**

Xion watched as the group called the Forty Thieves fled the palace. No one was chasing after him, since everyone was far more concerned with recovering. The stonework of the room was a mess and held up only by Genie's magic, while Donald and Kairi were attending to the guests with Cure spells. Abis Mal had not escaped with them and was being detained by Goofy while Aladdin, Sora, and herself were interrogating him.

"I swear, I don't know anything! It's a complete coincidence that I came here at the same time as them!"

"Last time we saw you, you abandoned Maleficent to flee the Heartless," Sora pointed out. "How do we know you didn't abandon those guys this time?"

"Do I _really_ look like someone who'd get accepted into _the_ Forty Thieves?"

Sora and Xion glanced at each other. They really didn't know a lot about this group, but apparently they were rather infamous in the deserts around Agrabah. Genie certainly knew who they were, and Aladdin had looked shocked when he heard his opponent was the King of Thieves.

While the interrogation continued, Xion found herself distracted by muffled shouting coming from the pile of gifts. Xion moved away from Abis Mal for the time being and crouched down among all the gold and jewels, searching for the source. The shouting was coming from a shaking chest with a lamp sitting on top of it, and when Xion opened it up a red bolt flew up with a flurry of feathers left behind.

"Air! Beautiful, fresh air!" Iago shouted through a cough. He took in a deep breath. "Oh, thank goodness you heard me, Xion!" He flew down and landed on her shoulder; Xion winced slightly as his talons dug into her exposed skin.

"What were you doing in there?"

"It was the thieves' leader, the guy dressed in blue! He trapped me inside the chest while he dug through the loot!"

Xion paused in thought, pulling up one of the translucent blue straps on her upper arm that had slipped when Iago landed. Seriously, Genie; next time _asking_ what she wanted to wear to the wedding would be nice. "He was only looking over here?"

"What were they after?" Jasmine asked, walking up to them with Kairi and Donald behind her. "The presents?"

Aladdin shook his head and held up a staff with an emerald at the tip, which Abis Mal had been holding when they captured him. "Not all of them. Just this."

Donald walked over to Aladdin and took the staff, letting out a soft "ooh" at the sparkling gold. He admired his reflection in the jewel for a few moments before asking "So what is it?"

"Don't look at me," Abis Mal said weakly.

"You need but to ask and I shall tell you all," an echoing, feminine voice boomed. Everyone looked around for the speaker, but the only person in the room boisterous enough was Genie, and it certainly wasn't him. The emerald on the tip of the staff flashed brightly, causing Donald to drop it in surprise and shield his eyes. From the tip of the staff poured a bright white light, and a translucent figure dressed in white cloth emerged from the treasure. She floated above them, emitting a light from her very body, and her presence hushed the entire room.

Genie approached them with a spyglass held to one eye. "Oh my, it's an Oracle."

"I am the spirit of the staff," the ethereal woman explained. "I see all and know all."

"Yup, definitely an Oracle." Genie's spyglass vanished and was replaced with a long stick. A chalkboard appeared floating in the air behind Genie and he used the stick to point at drawings and diagrams of the staff and the woman. "They know everything and can answer any question you have, but each person only gets one question and no more. That's it."

"Really?!" Donald asked with a gasp, turning to the Oracle.

"Your question has already been answered," she stated calmly.

Donald's wide smile fell. "That didn't count…" he grumbled.

Sora looked down with a thoughtful look. "Any question, huh?" Xion saw Kairi glance at him. They both had the same question on the mind. Sora looked back up at the Oracle. "Can you tell me where my friend Riku is?"

The Oracle shifted and wavered, and for a brief moment Xion thought it was going to return to the staff. Instead, her image transformed into a window to another world showing a black hooded figure standing in a desert wasteland.

"He wanders lost in the dark, a boy with his heart teetering on the brink."

Xion watched Kairi and Sora's disappointment grow on their faces, and she had to join them in that. That was so incredibly cryptic that it didn't help them at all. "At least we got to see the world he's in?"

"I guess so," Kairi said sadly.

"My power wanes for the time being," the Oracle said suddenly. The window to the other world had vanished and she had returned. "If any questions remain, speak them now before I slumber."

Jasmine placed a hand on Aladdin's shoulder and smiled. "Aladdin, we could learn anything_!_ About our lives, about our future!"

Aladdin kneeled down and picked up the staff, examining it in silence. "I know my future, Jasmine—it's with you. What I want to know is my past…but I can't get those answers in just one question."

The Oracle tilted her head. "Ah, but questions about your past can be answered by your father."

Aladdin froze. "My father?"

The Oracle vanished again, opening a new window. This one revealed a man with graying hair and a black beard, and Aladdin's mouth dropped open as silence fell over the room. When Aladdin finally spoke, his voice was soft. "My father…is _alive?"_

The Oracle returned and extended her hand outwards, gesturing through the window that the King of Thieves had escaped and out toward the setting sun on the horizon. "Follow the trail of the Forty Thieves. Your father is trapped within their world."

"The Forty Thieves?! Is he hurt? How long has he been their prisoner?!"

The Oracle bowed her head. "I am sorry. Only one question and one answer to each person." In a bright flash of light the Oracle disappeared, returning to sleep in her staff.

Aladdin gripped the gold tightly and looked out on the horizon. "It's up to me."

"You're not going out there alone, Al." Sora put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll all be right there beside you to free your dad from those guys."

"Thanks, Sora." His smile was genuine. "Jasmine, can you wait for the wedding just one more day?"

The princess shook her head, but she was smiling. "Of course. Your father will be a guest of honor."

"Alriiiight!" Genie appeared in a puff of smoke, holding a road map in his hands. "Road trip! Let's go! Do ya need a break from modern livin-"

"Not you, Genie." Aladdin said. Genie stopped in the middle of his song and his map disappeared. "I need you here in case the barrier keeping the Heartless out falls, so you can put it up again."

"Well, I-I guess that's a good point…"

"Thank you, Genie." Aladdin turned to the rest of them. "Sora, Xion."

"We're ready to go whenever you are, Aladdin," Xion said with a smile.

"Actually, can you stay here with the Genie?" Xion's smile faded and she glanced over at Sora. He was frowning in confusion. "If the Heartless break down the barrier then that means it wasn't strong enough. But your Keyblades can reinforce it."

Xion rubbed her arm. That made sense, she supposed… She didn't like it, certainly, but it made sense. "You're still not going out there alone. We won't let you."

"I'll go with him." Heads turned. Kairi was standing firm, and when Sora realized she was the one who spoke and was about to object, she shook her head. "I don't have a Keyblade so there's no reason for me to stay here. And besides," she held up her hand and an orb of water appeared, "we don't want Aladdin dying of thirst out in the desert."

Aladdin chuckled. "Thanks, Kairi."

Sora grumbled and turned to Donald. "Can you go with her?"

"I'm not a fragile little doll, Sora," Kairi said before Donald could reply.

"I didn't say you were, Kairi! But you're also only just starting out with your magic. Donald should be there in case a spell goes wrong."

Kairi sighed in reply instead of voicing an okay. Donald walked over to her, took her hand, and led her to Aladdin. "We'll be back soon," he assured everyone.

Goofy, however, seemed to think things were going by a bit too quickly. "Gawrsh, uh… Do we even know where the Forty Thieves are?" Everyone looked around awkwardly at each other. Apparently they hadn't even considered that, and with the Oracle asleep they couldn't exactly ask her… Xion crossed her arms, trying to think of a good way to find them. The desert winds would probably have blown away their tracks already.

"…I do," Abis Mal said quietly. Xion had completely forgotten about him with the Oracle's arrival and the revelation about Aladdin's dad, and judging by the expressions on everyone else's faces they had as well. Abis Mal looked up at them and gulped. "Or at least I know the stories. But if they're right, I can lead you right to the hideout of the Forty Thieves."

Kairi, Donald, and Aladdin glanced at each other. "I don't know…" Donald said with crossed arms. Jasmine, however, walked over to Abis Mal and crouched down to eye level.

"If you do this and help Aladdin find his father, you'll be pardoned for breaking into the palace," she said. "It's not like you actually stole anything anyway. Do we have a deal?"

Abis Mal sighed in relief. "We-We do."

**x-x-x**

The group had set out immediately on Carpet, who had once again been grown by Genie's magic; that way, they flew right above the battling Heartless and Nobodies. But even with Abis Mal's guidance the search went on and on, until finally in the middle of the night they reached the ocean with no men in sight.

"I knew I should have stayed behind," Iago complained nervously from his spot on Carpet's back.

"Aw phooey, put a sock in it," Donald said with a yawn.

Kairi looked up at Aladdin and Abis Mal sitting in the front and directing Carpet along the coast. Aladdin sure was determined, even when the rest of them were fighting the urge to slip off into sleep, and she couldn't really blame him for that. Some may say he had rushed off too quickly, and she couldn't really blame him for that either.

_I mean, what would I do if Dad got kidnapped?_ She thought back to Braska, mayor of the Destiny Islands and her adoptive father. If he had suddenly got missing, Kairi couldn't be sure that she wouldn't jump right into the action just like Aladdin did tonight. In fact, she probably wouldn't have even thought it through enough to bring backup along (though no doubt Sora would have followed regardless). Kairi could be a little impulsive, she had to admit that.

They flew by a rocky hill on the beach and something in the shadows at its base caught Kairi's attention. Iago let out a terrified squawk and Donald, Abis Mal, and Aladdin immediately turned to look at the hill as well as Carpet came to a sudden stop. Kairi flexed her fingers and leaned over Carpet's side, watching the shadows begin to bubble and move.

_Whoosh, whoosh._

That noise wasn't coming from the hill, but from above. Kairi glanced up just in time to fall back out of the way and avoid a lance impaling her through the face. Carpet swerved away as the weapon pierced its cloth, and with some distance between them Kairi could make out her attacker.

"A Dragoon. We've got Nobodies!"

Kairi, Donald, and Aladdin were immediately on their feet on the sandy beach, and Carpet lifted Iago and Abis Mal high into the sky. In addition to the Dragoons, Dancers moved gracefully toward the beach from out over the black water. Aladdin brandished his scimitar, fire flared to life on the tip of Donald's staff, and Kairi called droplets of water to surge around her right hand while her left sparked to life with the makings of a Thunder spell.

"Are they with the Forty Thieves?" Donald asked, raising his staff defensively.

"I don't think so," Kairi said with a shake of her head. She spared a glance behind her, at the shadows beneath the hill. Bandit and Air Pirate Heartless had arrived, meaning they were now pinned between two enemies. "I think we just walked into a battlefield without knowing it."

"But how did the Forty Thieves avoid them?" Aladdin asked.

Kairi bit her lip as the Heartless and Nobodies approached. "Maybe they didn't come this way." It was the only answer she could think of.

"Here they come!" Donald cried.

The Bandits struck first, leaping into the air and bringing their curved swords downward. Aladdin, as the only one with any melee abilities in the group, ran between Kairi and Donald and the Heartless to block the slashes with his own sword. Kairi instead turned her attention to the Dancers and Dragoons, firing streams of Watera and calling Thundara bolts down from the sky. A Dancer curved its agile body around Kairi's spells and delivered a strong kick into her side, interrupting a cast and sending water spraying everywhere. Kairi rolled out of the way of a the next kick from the Dancer, tumbling through the sand before climbing up to her feet and striking it in the back with Pearl.

When the Dancer was knocked into the sand it was suddenly attacked by a Bandit that leaped clear of Aladdin, who was still keeping the other Bandits occupied. Its curved blade pierced the Dancer's pale flesh and tore a good chunk out which faded away in black and white wisps. The Dancer lashed out at the Bandit in silent fury, kicking it hard in the chest. The Heartless vanished and the Dancer spun around to kick Kairi once again, but Kairi threw up a timely Reflect spell and then cast Watera point-blank at the Nobody. The torrent of water pushed it into the rocks at rapid speed, impaling its body on the stones before it faded away.

Donald, meanwhile, had his hands full with flying Dragoons and Air Pirates, which along with fighting him were battling each other in the air. One of the Dragoons' lances pierced an Air Pirate's wing and it let out a pained screech as it tumbled through the air, shadowy smoke flying out from the hole left behind. Donald jumped out of the way of the Heartless's crash landing and called on a storm of Thundaga, sending bolts of lightning raining down on Heartless and Nobody alike. Most managed to avoid the strikes, but others weren't so lucky.

"Donald, watch out!" Aladdin shouted. The duck spun around to see a pair of Bandits running at him from further down the beach. Given that Aladdin was in completely the other direction, they couldn't have been ones that he had been fighting.

"Gather!" Donald called out, casting a Magnega spell and pulling the attacking Bandits in, as well as several of the Dragoons and Air Pirates in the air around them. With a flick of his wrist the Magnega was replaced with Graviga, forcing the Heartless and Nobodies to the ground and crushing them under their own weight. To finish the job he released a flurry of Fira spells, burning what was left and leaving nothing but some super-heated glass in the place of the sand they had once occupied.

Donald's master of magic impressed Kairi, and she gave an impressed cheer to the duck as he turned his attention to the sky and started sending casts of Blizzara up at the Air Pirates. Kairi herself moved to help Aladdin, casting Water and knocking away several of the remaining Bandits he had to deal with.

"Thirsty?"

"Never hurts to have a bit more water in the desert."

Kairi glanced out at the ocean behind her. As of now she couldn't conjure up more than a Watera spell on her own, but maybe using an external source she could pull up some imitation of Waterga. "Watch my back, Aladdin." She flexed her fingers and jabbed a hand out toward the ocean. There wasn't much of a reaction, but she did see _something_ start to change with the water. The water bubbled and rippled. This might just work.

A Dancer came flying at Kairi with a spinning kick, but Aladdin jumped in the way and sliced it across its chest. The Dancer ducked down and slammed its foot hard into Aladdin's gut, knocking him backwards. Aladdin pressed his hands against the sand behind him to keep from falling to the earth and then shoved himself back up, piercing the Dancer through its right leg. The Dancer replied by spinning around and backhanding Aladdin in the cheek, but he punched it in the head and then dug his scimitar into its chest.

Almost immediately after the Dancer faded a Dragoon came down from above, missing Aladdin by inches. Before Aladdin could turn around and attack the Dragoon, however, and Air Pirate swooped down and tackled the Nobody hard. It brought a fist down hard on the Dragoon's head, but the Nobody contorted its body impossibly and dodged the attack before whacking the Heartless with the length of its lance. The Air Pirate responded by a kick followed by another punch, this time to the Nobody's gut. The lance flew from its head and Aladdin snagged it from the air.

Both Heartless and Nobody turned their heads to Aladdin. Aladdin's grip was awkward on the lance, but he pointed the sharp end to the two of them all the same. "Do you get my point?" Up above, Iago groaned at the pun.

The Dragoon rushed at Aladdin, swinging wildly with its claws. When the Air Pirate moved to join in the battle, the Dragoon swung its tail and struck the Heartless across the face. The two got into a struggle and while they were distracted Aladdin tossed the lance forward with all its strength. The pink bladed tip pierced the Dragoon through the throat and it let out a wet, guttural growl as black and white wisps began flowing out of the puncture wound. The Dragoon's claws wrapped around the lance and it did manage to pull it out of its body with some struggle, but it was too late. Its body turned translucent and faded away, and the lance fell to the sand with a soft _thunk_.

With its opponent gone, the Air Pirate dived toward Aladdin. However, thinking fast, All, somersaulted under the tackle and picked the lance up once again. "You should split!" he shouted, swinging the lance out in front of him like a giant sword. The bladed end sliced cleanly through the Heartless, purple and black smoke escaped from the halves of its body, and it faded into darkness.

Kairi, meanwhile, had finally gathered up as much seawater as she could handle. A large orb floated above the sea, rotating and splashing slowly. Her makeshift Waterga was ready.

"Donald, Al, get clear!" Kairi pulled her arm back, spun on her heel, and then thrust her hand out toward the remaining Heartless and Nobodies. The orb of water transformed, shifting into a torrential current that arced through the sky from the ocean and crashed down on the beach. When the water flowed back out into the ocean, the three of them were safe—albeit soaking wet and covered in salt and muddy sand. A quick Aero from Donald solved the first problem, but Kairi tugged at her dirty hair with a frown.

"Boy am I glad I'm on your side," Abis Mal said as Carpet lowered to the earth.

"You're not," Donald shot back. "You're just helping us find Aladdin's dad."

Abis Mal laughed sheepishly as they climbed aboard Carpet. Aladdin took his place at the front and his eyes scanned the area. "There's no way the Forty Thieves could have come this way without running into the Heartless and Nobodies," he said. "They must have taken a different path."

"Then let's keep looking," Kairi said while running a hand through her hair. She turned to Abis Mal. "Are you certain that their base is on the beach."

The little man shrugged. "That's what the stories say."

Aladdin gripped Carpet tightly. "We'll find them. I'm not leaving without my father."

Their search must have taken hours as they glided along the length of the coast in complete silence. On a few occasions Kairi had spotted more movement from Heartless in the shadows, which prompted Carpet to climb up higher and avoid any more combat. If they were going to fight forty men to get Aladdin's dad out of his imprisonment, then they couldn't get tired out by fighting during the search.

Eventually, in a canyon near the coast, they finally found a storm of hoof prints in the sand. With renewed vigor, Carpet flew high into the sky and came to a halt so that they could search for the riders. It wasn't hard to find them, as a storm of forty horses was quite loud.

Al directed Carpet down low, and they hid behind black rocks as the Forty Thieves came to a stop at the shore of a small lagoon.

"Where's their base?" Donald asked. Abis Mal shrugged helplessly.

"Well, they've got nowhere to go," Aladdin said. "We've got 'em trapped."

"'We'?!" Iago gasped. He flew up to Aladdin and jabbed his beak into his face. "_They_ are forty thieves! _We _are you, a fat guy, a duck, a _kid_, and me." He paused for a moment. "Wait, don't count me."

Kairi, ignoring Iago, looked over the rocks at the men. "They're just…standing there. What are they doing?"

The King of Thieves moved forward, adjusting his mask for comfort, and held his hand out over the lagoon. "Open Sesame!" he shouted, his deep voice echoing around them. The earth suddenly started to shake violent and the cliff wall on the far side of the lagoon cracked open, a sliver of bright golden light standing out against the darkness of midnight. The waters rose and parted, creating a 'canyon' in the sea that led from the shoreline to the new cave. The Forty Thieves took off down the pathway, their horses galloping at full speed to the cave.

"Let's move!" Aladdin said sharply, directing Carpet to follow the horse. The waves came crashing down mere feet behind them as Carpet flew down the parted sea. Whatever magic the King of Thieves had called upon with those words was fading quickly.

Carpet breached the opening in the cliff wall with seconds to spare and the stone wall slammed shut behind them as if the door had never been there.


	15. Are You In or Out?

**Chapter 15: Are You In or Out?**

The first thing Kairi noticed about the cave was the sheer size of it. The ceiling was so high up that it was cloaked in shadows, with only the hanging stalactites visible as tiny droplets of water fell from their tips and caused ripples in the water below. Sitting in that water and littering the floor were rumbling ruins and shattered stone arches decorated in rusting metals and dirt-covered jewels.

Kairi slid off of Carpet and landed in the ankle-deep seawater, scaring off some of the small fish that had gotten trapped inside when the cliff walls shut tight. "What is this place?" she asked softly, running a hand over some of the stone ruins.

"Who cares?" Iago responded from above. "I wanna get in, get out, and go home!" He looked around at the dark shadows cast by the few torches along the stone walls. "…Actually I wouldn't mind skipping right to 'go home.'"

Aladdin, Donald, and Abis Mal followed Kairi off of Carpet and the group made their way to the edge of the shallow pool. When Carpet rose higher to hide in the shadows, a grumbling Iago lifted off and flew down to join with the group. As they continued through what little sand there was faded away to hard stone floors, and they had to rely on wet footprints from the horses to navigate the tunnels. The stone ruins were becoming decidedly more polished and pristine the deeper they went, to the point that Kairi had to grab Iago and keep him from admiring his reflection in some of the gold plating. She turned around after that only to find Donald stuffing rubies and emeralds into his pockets.

Donald caught Kairi glaring at him and laughed, dropping the gems onto the floor. She caught him stashing a few under his hat and sighed before turning to Aladdin, who was looking around with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Something on your mind?"

Aladdin turned to her. "It's just a lot like the Cave of Wonders, is all."

"The what?"

"It's a long story," he said with a chuckle. Kairi shrugged; probably just another part of Sora's adventures in this world, then, because Donald didn't press the question so Kairi figured he must have known.

The hollow clatter of falling metal made Kairi freeze and she spun on her heel with wide eyes, worried that the Forty Thieves had caught them. Instead, however, Abis Mal stood over a pile of dropped gold and assorted pieces of silver. He glanced down at it and whistled innocently before hurrying to catch up with the group.

"Keep quiet," Al whispered harshly to the thief. "We can't let them know they've found us."

"R-Right, whatever you say," Abis Mal said with a nervous salute.

"Iago's right—we're way out numbered," Al continued. "So we're going to have to go about this a different way than charging at them head-on. Kairi, Donald, do you two have some kind of magic that locate my father?"

Kairi and Donald glanced at each other. "Sorry, not me," the girl said, holding out a hand. "I've only really trained for healing and fighting spells."

Donald rubbed his head. "I might have something." He muttered under his breath to himself while patting his clothes down and digging through pockets, searching for something on his person. "Genie's clothes-changing spell moved everything around… Aha!" Donald pulled out a book, which was evidently rather old judging by its yellowing pages.

"A spellbook?" Kairi leaned over his shoulder to investigate.

Donald shook his head and waved the book in the air. "Better! It's my old Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook from when I was a boy!"

"Guidebook?" Aladdin asked.

"Yeah!" Donald licked his fingers and flipped through the old pages of the book. "There's _everything_ in this! Let's see… 'If you're ever trapped in a magical cave with an army of thieves, the first thing you should do-'"

"I'm waiting for an _answer_, Cassim!"

"Wak!" The sudden deep, growly shout caught Donald by surprise and the book slipped from his grasp. It landed open and face-down in one of the few remaining puddles, soaking the pages until they were unreadable. Donald picked it up and sighed. "The first thing you should do…is _not_ do that. The boys wouldn't have this much trouble."

"We'll just have to get around them the old-fashioned way, then." Aladdin pressed up against the wall and glanced around the corner. Kairi and Donald followed, while Iago and Abis Mal lingered behind.

The grey-skinned member of the Forty Thieves was arguing with the King of Thieves. He pointed a finger threateningly and continued. "What do we have to show for it, _hmm?_ Your plan with the Oracle was a fool's errand from the start!"

"At least we know it's there. We will get it next time." The King of Thieves spoke calmly, though sternly. The tone of his voice was like the one a parent would use when their child had an outburst.

"Will there even _be_ a next time after this failure, Cassim?"

"Are you questioning my leadership, Sa'luk?" His voice grew cold and the thirty-eight other thieves murmured. Sa'luk backed up, but then bared his teeth and took a step forward, raising his fist which had a golden claw weapon attached.

"I am."

"'Cassim'?" Aladdin repeated quietly.

"Very, well then." Cassim (why did that name seem to bother Aladdin?) drew his sword and the crowd of thieves stepped away from him and Sa'luk. Kairi found herself doing the same, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Abis Mal sneaking way with Iago close behind.

"Hey!" she whispered sharply. The two looked at her and grinned innocently. Kairi shook her head and turned back to Cassim and Sa'luk.

Sa'luk struck first, swinging his fist at Cassim's neck. Cassim brought his sword up and locked the blade between the two claws, directing Sa'luk's hand downward. Sa'luk next punched Cassim with his weaponless hand, meeting his pale fist to the other man's face. Cassim stumbled backwards and struck at Sa'luk's bare shoulder. The thin red line appearing on his skin just seemed to anger the larger man, and he struck with his clawed fist once more. The gold claws sliced through Cassim's blue mask, tearing it off and revealing a middle-aged man with graying hair and a short black beard. He looked familiar to Kairi, but where had she seen him before…?

The next thing Kairi knew, Aladdin broke into a sprint and flew from their hiding place into the middle of the duel. She, Donald, Abis Mal, and Iago stared in shocked silence as he broke the two fighters apart and held Sa'luk back from Cassim.

"What is this?!" Sa'luk growled.

"Go, I'll cover you!" Aladdin shouted to Cassim, who was just as shocked as the rest of them.

"You're the groom from Agrabah," he said, recognition dawning on his face.

Aladdin didn't confirm it. "Dad, run!" Kairi started in surprise and stared closely at Cassim. Yes, she remembered now—that was the face that the Oracle had revealed to them. But…Aladdin's father was the _leader_ of the Forty Thieves? The Oracle said he was trapped-

"And who do we have here?" Kairi felt tough, calloused hands wrap around her wrists and pin her hands together behind her back. Next to her, Donald and Abis Mal were held captive by members of the Forty Thieves in a similar way while Iago was shoved into a rusty bird cage. Kairi looked over her shoulder and glared at her captor, a man with a thin mustache and goatee. "A pretty lady such as yourself shouldn't go wandering around near where the big boys play." His gaze lowered from her face and lingered just a bit too long. Kairi suppressed the urge to vomit but couldn't keep herself from shuddering.

_Ugh, Genie. Your outfits are causing nothing but trouble. _She could use magic to get out of this, sure, but with Aladdin surrounded by all those angry (if surprised) faces, antagonizing them more wouldn't be smart. He had to get out of there first, and to dot hat she needed to remind him of the situation he was in."Aladdin!"

"Kairi?" Aladdin spun around and nearly dropped his scimitar in shock. "Oh no! Kairi, Donald!" He moved to go after them, just as Kairi hoped, but Cassim placed a hand on Aladdin's shoulder.

"She called you Aladdin… Could it be, are you really my son?"

Aladdin looked from their group to Cassim, then back to them, and lastly back at his father. His shoulders drooped. He reached for the dagger on his belt, the one that was a gift from his father. Cassim's eyes widened as Aladdin raised the dagger up hilt-first, showing the golden hand emblem to Cassim. It matched the one holding his cloak together.

"Cassim, what is this?" Sa'luk asked with impatience.

Cassim took the dagger and stared at it as if he believed it would vanish at a moment's notice. "I…gave this to my wife when I left Agrabah, to give to our son… Our son Aladdin." He looked up at Al with an expression matching the one he had given the dagger. "You're alive?"

"_You're_ the King of Thieves?" Aladdin asked with not a little anger in his voice.

Before Cassim could answer, Sa'luk shoved him aside and stepped forward. "Cassim's son, eh? Well what a happy family reunion…but he still broke the rules! Cassim, no one is allowed to find our lair. He and his friends must be punished."

Cassim looked between Aladdin and Sa'luk, and Aladdin looked over his shoulder at Kairi and the others.

"The price of finding the lair of the Forty Thieves is death." Kairi felt her blood run cold at Cassim's words. "But…he could undertake the test."

Sa'luk raised an eyebrow. "Certainly, _he_ could. But what of the _child_ and his other companions?" Cassim looked over to them with some surprise, evidently not noticing them until now. He rubbed his chin in thought and was about to speak up but Aladdin spoke first.

"I'll take your test," he said firmly. "Whatever it is. And if I pass, then me and my friends stay unharmed."

"What?!" Sa'luk roared. "That is _not_ how things are done!"

Cassim raised a hand to silence Sa'luk. "It's unprecedented… But I'm the King of Thieves, Sa'luk. And I agree to Aladdin's terms."

Sa'luk growled. "Fine then. But _I _will be the one to give the boy the test." Kairi could just feel the hushed worry that rippled through the crowd of the Forty Thieves, which even caused her captor's grip to loosen somewhat.

Cassim smirked. "I would have it no other way." He turned to Aladdin. "You realize, of course, that your friends will not be allowed to help you in this?"

Aladdin crossed his arms and smirked. With both of them wearing identical expressions, Kairi could really see the family resemblance. "Fine. I got by for years on my own, any test you throw at me I can handle."

"And you will only be allowed one weapon."

Aladdin's smug expression faltered slightly. "Weapon?"

Sa'luk grinned and leaned in close. "That's the test, boy. A fight to the death. And if you win, you join the Forty Thieves."

"Death?!" Donald shouted in horror, and Kairi matched his sentiments. "Al, you can't! Don't risk your life!"

"You should listen to your companion, Aladdin," Sa'luk taunted with a sneer. "Are you in or out?"

Aladdin glanced down at his scimitar and tossed it to the ground. Sa'luk grinned in victory and Kairi let out a sigh of relief, but then Aladdin held out his hand to his father. Cassim smiled and handed over the dagger, which Aladdin removed from its sheathe. It sparkled in the torchlight.

"I'm in."

Kairi and Donald glanced at each other nervously, and then she turned to Abis Mal who was sweating profusely.

Cassim backed off and the thieves followed, expanding the ring of space for Sa'luk and Aladdin to move around. Aladdin had only the dagger and Sa'luk his fist weapon. One of them wasn't going to survive this fight, and if Aladdin fell then there would be four more deaths following his own.

Al crouched low, holding the dagger out before him, while Sa'luk stood tall and raised his fists almost like a boxer would. The two stared at each other for a few tense, exceedingly long seconds before Aladdin darted forward, moving quickly and slashing across Sa'luk's chest. Sa'luk moved his left fist – the one without the claw weapon – in an uppercut and struck Al in the gut, knocking him up into the air.

Aladdin flipped around in the air and planted his thin feet on Sa'luk's muscular shoulders. He leaned over and grinned when Sa'luk glared up at him, then jumped off and somersaulted to the ground behind the grey-skinned man. He swung his foot out behind him to trip Sa'luk up and then slashed at the tumbling man's back with his dagger, tearing his vest and leaving a bright red streak of blood to compliment the one on his shoulder that Cassim had given him earlier.

Sa'luk roared and spun around, backhanding Aladdin across the face with the clawed hand. Kairi winced at the trio of identical scratches that now marked the young man's face, just barely missing his eyes. Aladdin thrust the dagger into Sa'luk's bicep at an angle and fled, running a hand over his injured face as he did so. A furious Sa'luk pulled the dagger out and hurled the blood-soaked blade at Aladdin. It missed him by centimeters, slicing off some of his hair and sticking into a wooden post against the wall.

Aladdin retrieved the dagger and ducked just in time to avoid another swing from Sa'luk. He swung his head low, punched Sa'luk in the chest, and then kicked him in the torso. Sa'luk staggered backwards, approaching the edge of the stone that fell off into a black abyss. But he regained his footing on the uneven surface and charged forward, unleashing a series of powerful punches on Aladdin.

When a break in the onslaught presented itself, Al took the opportunity and jumped behind the post. A swing from Sa'luk's clawed hand shattered the wooden post, bringing the remnants of some stone ruin it had been holding up crumbling down on the two of them. Aladdin rolled out of the way and Sa'luk attempted to follow, but a large chunk of stone slammed hard on his shoulder and his arm fell limp.

"Wretched little street rat!" Sa'luk roared, swinging out with his good arm—his dangerous claw was still usable. "You're in trouble now!"

Aladdin leaned back to avoid the slice. "You're only in trouble if you get caught!" Sa'luk charged at Aladdin and slammed his shoulder into him, knocking Aladdin back. He wrapped his large hand around Aladdin's wrist and lifted him up. Aladdin grinned nervously. "I'm in trouble."

Unfortunately for Sa'luk, Aladdin's free hand was the one with the dagger. He sliced the sharp blade across Sa'luk's wrist and Sa'luk cried out in pain as his grip released. But that didn't last long and he swung out another powerful punch, which knocked Aladdin over to the ledge Sa'luk had struggled on just a minute before. Aladdin flung his arms out and tried to catch his balance as he looked over his shoulder at the blackness below.

He slipped and fell backwards.

"Aladdin!" Kairi and Donald shouted in horror.

"No!" Cassim cried out at the same time.

Kairi could only see Aladdin's hands and head as he clung onto a rocky outcropping on the ledge. Sa'luk approached with slow, deliberate steps, chuckling darkly. He crouched down, resting a hand on his knee, and smirked at Aladdin. "You still have a chance to forfeit."

Aladdin glanced down at the darkness below him and then up at Sa'luk. "So do you." He let go of the rock and quickly grabbed at Sa'luk's leg before he fell. Sa'luk's eyes widened and he pulled backwards before Aladdin could drag him down, but that action also pulled Aladdin back up out of the pit. Sa'luk brought his claws down on Aladdin, but Al rolled out of the way. Climbing to his feet, he lunged forward and stabbed the dagger into Sa'luk's chest—right through his heart.

Sa'luk let out a soft choke as his breath caught in his throat. He stared down at the blood dripping down his chest and up at Aladdin. The young man's eyes were wide with horror as he pulled the dagger out of Sa'luk's grey skin. Sa'luk stumbled backwards and fell into the pit, taken by the darkness.

Kairi found herself shivering, and her mouth felt like cotton. She had just seen someone die violently. That's not something_ any_ sixteen-year-old girl should have to see.

The Forty Thieves reacted almost immediately, closing in their circle and approaching Aladdin. Kairi felt her captor's hands loosen and she clenched her fists, focusing on heat and sparks. Electricity flared to life on her skin, shocking the man holding her and releasing her from his grasp. "Aladdin!" She couldn't see him behind the crowd.

She didn't need to worry, though. Suddenly Aladdin was lifted up by the thieves with welcoming cheers, and over in the corner Cassim was grinning. He looked over to Kairi and raised a hand. "Let Aladdin's companions go. We had a deal." Kairi looked behind her to see Donald, Abis Mal, and Iago set free.

"Congratulations, kids!" One of the thieves exclaimed, walking up to Kairi and shaking her hands.

"You've joined the club!" another said to Donald.

A third put a hand on Aladdin's shoulder. "And everybody here agrees. We got the finest blend of nearly-honest men, Welcome to the Forty Thieves!"

Iago grinned and approached a pile of gold, only to be stopped by a thief throwing daggers at him. "Only Cassim's son is welcome to our loot," he warned.

"Aheh… Got it," Iago said with a salute.

Abis Mal looked around. "I don't suppose I could take the, erm, test?"

Cassim laughed loudly. "You?! After what I saw of you at the wedding? A bumbling little man wouldn't last long in the Forty Thieves!" Abis Mal grumbled and Cassim turned to his son. "Isn't this great, Aladdin?" he asked, taking him aside. "Together we're the perfect team. Larceny is in the genes. Dare to share the family dream?"

Aladdin shoved Cassim away and narrowed his eyes. "We'll see," he said dangerously.

Cassim took in a deep breath through his nostrils and shook his head. "Very well. Well, follow me. I have something I'd like to talk to you about…" He glanced at Kairi and Donald. "In private."

"My friends stay with me."

Cassim and Aladdin shared a long moment staring each other down before the older man smiled. "So they do. Come with me then."

Kairi and Donald glanced at each other while Iago landed on her shoulder. "Think we can trust them?" Kairi asked.

Donald shrugged. "I think we have to right now."

"Right…"

Cassim and Aladdin were already walking down a dark tunnel, so Kairi and Donald hurried to catch up. The torches grew fewer as they traveled and the floor once again became flooded with ankle-deep seawater. Cassim picked up a torch from the wall and held it in his hand as they moved. Eventually the ruined stone vanished completely and the only source of light was Cassim's torch. Kairi watched a scorpion scamper over some of the stones sticking out of the water.

"I find my son and I lose my enemy! You did your old man proud, Aladdin." Cassim's voice echoed through the tunnel.

"I was just doing what I had to, to survive," Aladdin snapped.

"And it's a good thing, too! You fight or you die. That is the code of the Forty Thieves."

Iago flew over to Cassim and landed on his shoulder. "Does this code have any rules that _don't_ end in death?"

"It's a strict code."

Kairi glanced at Donald to find him giving her an identical look. She rubbed her arm nervously. "I feel like we should say something."

He shook his head and held up a hand. "Remember rule one, Kairi: no meddling!"

Kairi felt a frown tug at her lips. "Somehow I don't think this is what that means."

Donald chuckled nervously and laughed. "Really I think this is a family thing, you know?"

"Is that what happened to you?" Aladdin asked Cassim. Cassim's face hardened and his mouth drew into a narrow line.

"I had my reasons for leaving."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did."

"Al…" Kairi began, intending to ask him to calm down. She didn't finish voicing her concerns, though, because they reached the end of the tunnel. An extravagant design was carved into the wall, at the center of which was the same hand design that she had come to associate with Cassim. He took golden medallion from his cloak and placed it in the carving. The wall rumbled and slid open, revealing a hidden chamber behind it.

In contrast to the chambers above, there was less treasure in this room. Most of the decorations were statues and tapestries, and a map of the world (or Kairi assumed it was a world map, anyway) hung on the far wall. A window opened out over the ocean, showing them that it was still a pitch black knight.

"I _did_ have a good reason for leaving you and your mother, Aladdin," Cassim continued. "I wanted a better life for you. I didn't want you to grow up like I did, living day by day. Being called street rat!"

"Yeah, good job there," Aladdin said bitterly. Kairi had resolved to stay quiet. She didn't know what to do to or say; she wasn't as used to helping people with their problems as Sora was.

"I told myself I wouldn't go back until I had what I want. But weeks turned to months turned to years, and I never found it." Cassim sighed as he lit several oil lamps in the room with his torch. "I went back to Agrabah one day, but my house had been destroyed. I thought you and your mother were lost forever. And that moment I would have traded anything to get you back."

Aladdin crossed his arms and glared down at the floor. "We never wanted gold…" he mumbled.

"What are you looking for?" Donald asked.

"There is a treasure," Cassim began. "A treasure which, compared to this or even the legendary Cave of Wonders, a sultan's tomb is like a pauper's grave. The munny of a king's ransom is nothing!" Donald was grinning widely and Iago had begun rubbing his wings together greedily. "And I am _this_ close to finding it." He held his fingers barely apart for emphasis.

Iago wiped drool from his beak. "That's _tantalizingly_ close. So what's it called?"

"Tell us!" Donald added with a hasty nod of his head.

"It's on an island that is never in the same place twice—the Vanishing Isle. It is said that anything it touches turns into solid gold." Cassim grinned and leaned in close to the two captivated birds. "The Hand of Midas."

Aladdin lowered his arms to his side and kept his glare leveled at Cassim. "That's just a myth." Kairi did have to admit she found that pretty unbelievable—too good to be true. She lightly bonked Donald on the head to snap him out of his munny-filled fantasies.

"It's not a myth!" Cassim said adamantly. He pointed out the window, to the dark waves. "Just look there!"

Aladdin didn't, but Kairi's curiosity was piqued. She leaned over the crumbling bricks and stuck her head out, her red hair blowing in the sea breeze. "I don't see any… Oh!" The clouds up above parted, and as the moon cast its light over the ocean something began sparkling. A solid gold boat was sitting against the rocks and sparkling in the moonlight. At Kairi's gasp the others joined her, and she saw awe dawn on Aladdin's face. Everything Cassim had said had been true.

"The Vanishing Isle was _here_, at this very location, and the Hand of Midas with it," Cassim continued. "It turned that ship and its entire crew to solid gold."

Aladdin glanced down at the ship once more, then around the room, before settling on Cassim. He ran a head through his thick black hair. "We never wanted gold," he said, repeating what he said earlier but more softly. "Or a fortune. We wanted_ you._ I wanted a father." He smiled and put a hand on his father's shoulder. "Dad, please come to my wedding? With an invitation this time."

"Aladdin…" Cassim said, but Aladdin cut him off.

"I won't leave until morning. At least think about it?" He walked off, presumably to find a place to sleep, and Kairi ran after him. Her sandaled feet splashed against the shallow stream flowing through the tunnel as she and Aladdin walked out into the torch-lit darkness.

"I know it's not my place to say," she said softly, "but I really think you did a good job, Aladdin. I know I wouldn't handle learning all of this so well."

"Thanks, Kairi. That actually means a lot." He smiled softly and leaned in, examining her sandy and salty hair. "You need a bath, I think."

Kairi brought a hand up to her mouth and giggled. Despite all that had just happened, a little light-heartedness to a situation never hurt. "I think I agree. I have no idea where to find one out here, though."

Aladdin looked down the tunnel. "I would think there's a pool of water here somewhere, maybe at the end of the stream." He shrugged. "Even thieves have to bathe, right?"

Kairi smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I'll go check down there." She paused. "Can you wait here? Just in case there isn't a pool."

"Sure, I won't be going anywhere."

"Okay, see you soon!" Kairi started making her way down the tunnel, walking beside the stream, but as she started to leave the range of the torchlight behind a thought made her pause. She looked over her shoulder at Aladdin, silhouetted against the flames, and wrinkled her brow in confusion and maybe a bit of concern.

Where had Abis Mal run off to?

**x-x-x**

Donald watched as Cassim slumped down into a chair in his private chamber. Iago was perched on the top of the chair's back, admiring the golden statues and casting a glance every now and then out the window to the sparkling ship. Donald could hardly blame him. The mere thought of something that could turn anything into solid gold! He wanted this Hand of Midas badly.

"I could try to go to the wedding, but it just wouldn't work," Cassim said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I don't belong in his world."

Donald sighed. "Oh, don't say that! You're Al's father; you gotta be there for his wedding!"

Iago grinned and fluttered down to Cassim's shoulder. He leaned in conspiratorially. "The _Oracle_ doesn't belong in his world either. It belongs in the hands of an enterprising treasure hunter."

Donald narrowed his eyes at the parrot. "Hey, what are you saying?"

Cassim waved Iago away and stood up. "The Oracle… Probably just another dead end."

"Actually," Donald said slowly, "it's how we found you."

"Yeah! It works!" Iago smiled at Donald, and Donald grumbled. He couldn't believe he was agreeing with Jafar's lackey parrot. "It knows everything!"

Cassim stopped, his eyes widening ever so slightly. "It works…?"

Iago's grin was smug. "And I know where they stashed it."

"We're talking about the wedding of your only son," Donald said warily, reminding Cassim of the real reason to go to Agrabah. "Though…maybe _after_ that…"

Iago nudged Cassim in the shoulder. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Cassim smiled and looked out the window at the golden ship. "How could I pass it up?"

**x-x-x**

"I wonder how the others are doin'," Goofy said. Xion looked behind her, watching him walk through the nighttime streets of Agrabah. Sora and Genie were in front of the group as Genie led them out to the barrier to check on it.

"I'm sure they're fine." She was worried too, though. They had been gone nearly twelve hours now.

"I wouldn't worry about Al," Genie said happily. "If he was in trouble, he'd just have to rub the lamp and wish himself out!"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Genie, _I _have your lamp, remember? You gave it to me when I helped you guys the first time."

Genie deflated—literally, he deflated like a balloon and was lying flat as a pancake on the sandy road. "Oh. Well then we may have a bit of a problem." When he inflated back up to normal his voice was high-pitched, as if he had inhaled a lot of helium. "Well, I'm sure he's safe anyway! As long as Donald and Iago don't tempt him to do something stupid, that is."

Goofy chuckled. "Gawrsh, Donald isn't like that!"

Xion grimaced. "Though Iago might be." A soft _wssh _sound caught her attention and she paused, looking down a dark alley. It sounded like a corridor of darkness opening. Xion raised an eyebrow and strained her eyes to see through the shadows, but when no Heartless jumped out to attack her she shrugged. Maybe she was just hearing things.

The group continued to the barrier.

**x-x-x**

Abis Mal pressed himself up against the stone walls of the nearby building as the Keyblade kids moved away. He let out a sigh of relief and then shivered in the cold. He never liked using corridors of darkness, but they were certainly handy for an escape. And much quicker than wandering the desert for hours, as well.

The sound of heavy footprints turned Abis Mal's attention to the other end of the alley. A large figure, the familiar hat giving him away as one of Agrabah's guards, approached. Abis Mal chuckled somewhat nervously.

"You!" Razoul said, approaching Abis Mal with a sneer. "_You _are the one who called me here?"

"That's me." He hoped Razoul didn't notice his fear. "You're alone, right?"

Razoul's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I am. What information could _you_ possibly have about the King of Thieves? Weren't you out in the desert hunting the street rat's father down?"

"I was," Abis Mal confirmed with a nod. "At first. But what would you say if I told you the King of Thieves was coming back tomorrow? And you could be the big hero who captures him?"

Razoul's smile revealed his missing tooth. "I'd say keep talking." Abis Mal smiled, but before he could speak Razoul continued. "_And_ I'd want to know what's in it for you?"

"I'd just sleep better knowing he's off the streets." Before Razoul had a chance to refute that obvious lie, Abis Mal continued. "Look, just listen, okay? We went out searching for Aladdin's dad…we found the King of Thieves! Doesn't that say something to you?"

Razoul scratched his head for a moment before a light seemed to click on in his head. He chuckled darkly. "The street rat's old man, eh? I'm listening."

Abis Mal smiled a smile to match Razoul's own. _This_ would teach Cassim to reject him.

**x-x-x**

"Ugh… Nnh…"

"Wakey-wakey, bucko. You took quite a fall."

Sa'luk sat up, rubbing the top of his bald head. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but after a while nothing changed. He was sitting in perfect blackness, untouched by any other color… Well, that wasn't exactly right. A figure in grey stood in front of Sa'luk with his hands on his hips.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Sa'luk growled, his anger bubbling as memories of what happened to him rose to the surface. "When I get my hands on that no-good street rat, I…" He frowned. "I…" As quickly as his anger had come, it faded away. There was only a hollow memory of rage left.

Sa'luk looked down at his body. His skin seemed paler. A wound on his chest caught his eye, still fresh but no longer bleeding. "How is it I yet live? I was stabbed-"

"Through the heart, yup." The stranger smiled and his single golden eye seemed to glow faintly. "But don't worry. I took care of your heart problem." He extended a hand, clad in a black glove, to Sa'luk. "I have an offer for you. Are you in or out?"


	16. People Can Change

**Chapter 16: People Can Change**

Xion leaned against the polished marble railing up on one of the high balconies of Agrabah's palace, watching the sunrise. The early morning breeze swept through her hair and she inhaled deeply, smelling the still-fresh flowers decorating the town for the royal wedding. As she looked out over the city, she reached for her canteen of water and took a much-needed drink, swishing the water around in her dry mouth.

A full night had passed without a word from any from them. After Xion and the others got back from the barrier, Jasmine had spent the night talking with Genie—about what, Xion wasn't sure. She, Goofy, and Sora had helped around the palace in general with repairs and such, but eventually the Sultan had insisted they get to sleep. And for all the heat of the desert in the day, at night it was downright freezing. But wow the beds in the palace's guest rooms were comfortable.

The problem was, of course, that when she had woken up they still weren't back. Xion had come up here after breakfast and hadn't moved since.

"Gawrsh, still nothin'?"

Xion turned around to see Sora and Goofy approaching her. Sora was still wearing the poofy clothes that Genie had given him the day before. It amazed Xion that he could handle the heat in those; at least with her Agrabah outfit she wasn't sweating under layers.

She shook her head. "It's as empty out in the desert as ever. Well, except for the Heartless."

Sora frowned and crossed his arms. "I hope they didn't get in trouble."

"I'm sure they can handle any Heartless or Nobodies they come across. And they had Carpet to fly over most of it anyway."

"Still…" Xion shook her head at Sora's concern. She knew that he knew they could handle it. Most of this was worry was clearly for Kairi.

"Aw, don't worry fellers!" Goofy said cheerfully. "Why, I bet they found Al's dad and are on their way back as we speak."

Xion smiled. "Yeah, you're right, Goofy. And who knows how far out they had to go? I'm sure we'll see them soon."

Sora walked up next to Xion and leaned over the railing of the balcony. He looked out to the horizon as the sun lifted higher and the sky grew brighter. "I wonder if Aladdin's dad is really out there. And what's he like?"

Goofy laughed. "Gawrsh, it doesn't really matter what he's like, he and Al will get along great anyway! That's how it works; father and son just have a connection. Why, once I took my boy Maxie out on a fishing trip, and though we had our ups and downs during it we both came out happy as can be!" Xion tried to hide her face when Goofy brought his son up. She still didn't feel good about spying on their conversation in Disney Castle. Luckily he didn't seem to notice.

"When I was a kid," Sora said with a hint of nostalgia in his voice, "my dad would take me and Riku out on his boat to the island we played on. Sometimes he'd join in on our races or whatever, though I think once Kairi came to the islands and became our friend he was secretly glad he didn't have to do that anymore." He leaned back and smiled. "But he never showed it. He was always there laughing in the sand with us."

"See, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Goofy turned to Xion. "And what about you, Xion?" He paused. "…I mean, I know ya didn't have the most…_normal_ life, but…" He trailed off, obviously feeling awkward about this was going.

"It's fine." Xion shook her head to put his fears aside. "And…I'm not sure." Sora's stories had sprung up his memories in her mind of a tall but slim man with brown hair just as wild as Sora's playing on the beach. When Xion had gone to Destiny Islands after Xemnas's defeat, he had taken her in without much of a second thought. The man was a fisherman by trade, and Xion could really see where Sora got his attitude from.

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean, when I think of fathers, the first thing that comes to my mind is your dad, Sora. Because of your memories inside me, right?" Xion shrugged. "But I guess the closest thing I had is-" Xion paused, nearly choking on her breath at her sudden realization. _Vexen _was the closest thing she had to a father, given that he was behind the Replica Program. That was a rather creepy thought.

"Who?" Sora pressed for an answer, ever curious.

"...A-Axel," she lied. She was sure it was an obvious lie, too. "Axel was kind of my father figure, I guess." But the more she thought of it, was it so much of a lie? Vexen may have certainly made the Replicas, but it was Axel who taught her and Roxas pretty much everything they knew about life. If there was more to a father than simply being a parent, then Axel fit the role.

Xion wasn't sure how to feel about that; it was certainly an _odd_ thought, and almost comical. She giggled to herself while imagining Axel working at some office job. "Or maybe an older brother. Can older brothers be father figures?"

"Sure," Sora said. "Wakka raised his little brother Chappu." Oh, that's right. She remembered now, she had met Chappu once at a blitzball game.

The trio stood on the balcony for a while longer, watching the bustle of the city down below. In the back of her mind Xion had a nagging feeling telling her to stop lounging around and go see what she could do to help around the palace, but another part of her was saying that if Jasmine or Genie needed them they could come get them.

Xion spared a glance at Sora next to her. Although he still had worry behind his eyes, there was a content smile on his face as his brown spikes blew in the breeze. When he noticed her watching she looked away.

"It's funny," she began slowly, "that we're just sitting here talking about fathers." Xion chuckled and turned around, resting her back against the railing as she slid down to sit on the marble floor. "Last time we were in Agrabah, could you ever imagine that we'd be friends like this?" Genie did, she remembered. Before Xion had left he had predicted that next time they met, she and Sora would be best friends. Though she never imagined how literal the idea of them being 'inseparable' would be.

"That was just after Hollow Bastion, wasn't it?" Sora sat down, joining her on the floor. "It's hard to remember a time we _weren't _friends, honestly. I mean…we haven't even known each other a full year but it feels like so much longer."

Goofy's laughter turned both teens to him. "Yup! Xion melted right into the group from day one. It's a lot like how quickly Sora got comfortable 'round me an' Donald!"

Sora rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "I guess so."

The wind picked up and Xion watched Goofy squint, holding a hand over his eyes to block the bright sunlight as he looked for something in the distance. His face broke into a wild smile and he started jumping up and down, waving his hands above his head.

"What is it?" Sora asked, standing up. "What do you see?"

"A-hyuck! There they are! Hey, fellers, we're down here!" Xion stood up as well and followed Goofy's line of sight. A speck of purple and gold was approaching, flying over the miles of sand on the horizon. She grinned and started imitating Goofy's movements, attracting Carpet's attention so they would land over on the balcony.

Kairi jumped off of Carpet before they were at a complete stop and stood proud. "We're back! Did we worry you?"

"Not at all," Sora said. Xion rolled her eyes.

Donald and Iago climbed off next, leaving only two figures on Carpet. Assuming they succeeded and found Aladdin's dad – which they must have, they were too cheery – then someone was missing. Xion raised an eyebrow. "Where's Abis Mal?"

Donald's shoulders drooped and he sighed dejectedly. "We…don't know."

Sora blinked. "What do you mean?"

Kairi shrugged helplessly. "We got split up last night and we couldn't find him no matter how much we looked." She bit her lip and looked away. "Last time I saw him was when the Forty Thieves found us."

Sora's hands were on Kairi's arms immediately and his eyes were wide. "They found you?!"

"U-Um…" Donald began, but then he trailed off and let out a short, awkward laugh.

"They did…" Kairi said slowly. "But we're fine. No harm done." Sora didn't look convinced, but obviously they were here and alive, so Xion had to agree that no one was hurt. Still, it did ring some alarm bells.

"Could they have followed you back?" she asked.

"No way." Kairi seemed very confident in that, at least. "And what good would it do them anyway? They already know where the palace is."

"I guess that's true…"

Goofy looked thoughtful before he spoke. "Gawrsh, how did ya get away if they found ya?"

"Er…"

"Hey, don't you all want to meet someone?!" Aladdin's cheerful voice interrupted Kairi before she could explain. He stood on the back of Carpet with a man dressed in red with a black longcoat and blue sleeves. The clothes looked new and not traveled in; they must have been taken from the Forty Thieves, Xion figured.

Iago fluttered over to the man's shoulder. "Allow me to introduce the Ki-"

"Cassim," he said while snapping Iago's beak shut. "My name is Cassim. I'm…Aladdin's father." He spoke like he couldn't believe it himself, which Xion couldn't blame him for if he had never actually known Aladdin. Still, something about his deep voice nagged at Xion. Where had she heard him before?

It didn't seem to bother the others, though; that or they didn't notice. As Aladdin and Cassim climbed off of Carpet Sora walked up to him and shook his hand eagerly. "It's great to meet you, sir. Al's a real good guy, you should be proud."

"Yes, I am. He told me a lot about you kids, too, on our way back."

"Gawrsh, Cassim, what did he say?"

"That you're all great friends. And powerful, too! Fighting those black monsters, as children? I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen your wizard friends in action. Their magic was phenomenal." Kairi and Donald both blushed at that.

Aladdin took Cassim's arm. "Come on, Dad. I want you to meet Jasmine."

Cassim shook his head. "The princess? Oh Aladdin, I'm hardly dressed for-"

"It'll be fine." He turned to Xion and Sora. "Where is she?"

"In the wedding pavilion," Sora said. "It's already been repaired thanks to Genie."

"'Genie'?" Cassim looked up with a twinkle in his eyes. "You have a genie? Tell me, have you already used all three wishes?!"

Iago, still on Cassim's shoulder, groaned. "Oh please, don't go into it, it's just too painful."

"I don't understand-"

"It's a long story," Sora said, "but Genie's been freed. Now he just has semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic power."

"Ah," Cassim said with some disappointment. "I see."

The wedding pavilion wasn't far. As they walked through the white and gold halls of Agrabah's palace, Cassim looked at the arches and curves with wonder and maybe a hint of jealousy. "My boy, living in a palace! You do the family proud."

As Sora had pointed out, Genie, Jasmine, and the Sultan were there discussing wedding plans. Jasmine trailed off mid-discussion and broke into a wide smile when she saw them, running toward Aladdin with joy. But before she could embrace him a puff of blue smoke erupted between them and Genie took Al into a big bear hug.

"Al! You're back!" He spun him around. "And your front! You're both here!"

"That's great Genie-"

Genie squeezed Al tightly and leaned in conspiratorially. "I've been on the lookout and beefing up security." He pointed to the ledge circling up against the ceiling, where someone could hide in the shadows waiting for an ambush. A squad of Genies dressed in black and holding guns were there now. "No one is going to crash your wedding _this_ time. Close friends and family only, no one gets in without an invitation!"

"Good, because this is-"

Genie pulled away from Aladdin, finally noticing Cassim. He leaned in closer, jutting his chin up to look intimidating as he spoke in a low growl. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"Genie-" Aladdin shoved the two of them apart before something could happen. "Meet my dad."

Genie blinked, pulled away for a moment, and then curled his hands into fists and marched over to Cassim with a threatening finger. "If you're Al's dad, then I just wanna know one thing."

"Yeah?" Cassim shot back with an edge in his voice.

The next instant Genie was wearing a tuxedo while holding a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. "Will you be having the chicken or the sea bass?"

Cassim seemed positively befuddled by Genie's rapid-fire shifts in behavior. Xion took it upon herself to pull Genie aside since he could be rather intimidating to people on a first meeting. Once Genie was a safe distance away (and pouting in the corner) Jasmine approached Aladdin and Cassim.

"Are you really Aladdin's father?"

"Yup, that's him!" Donald chimed in. "Brought home from the Forty Thieves"

"_Rescued_ from the Forty Thieves," Kairi quickly added.

The little Sultan walked up to Cassim, who was on his knees before the royalty, and urged him to climb back to his feet. "Oh my, how dreadful! Surely being a prisoner to those ruffians was most gruesome indeed. But don't worry dear Cassim, like your son you have a place here in the palace."

"I- Thank you, but I am not sure it's my place." Cassim smiled. "But my boy Aladdin must have been born under a lucky star to live life as he does—and to find a love as beautiful as you, Princess Jasmine."

The Sultan nodded. "Yes, of course. And we'll say no more—not another word on the subject of the thieves."

Cassim agreed. "Yes. This is a happy occasion—a blessed union of our children!"

Kairi and Donald walked over to Aladdin as Cassim continued to speak about love and family. "They love him," Xion heard Kairi whisper.

"I knew he'd get along great," Aladdin said. "He just needed a second chance. Anyone can change."

Xion found herself frowning in suspicion as she turned away from them and looked at Cassim, who had lifted the Sultan up in an energetic hug. A second chance for what…?

**x-x-x**

It was later that night, after an evening of partying and quite possibly the largest dinner that Cassim had ever had, that the halls of Agrabah's palace were stalked by a silent shadow—and its loud feathered companion.

Cassim, once again wearing his blue cloak and hiding his face, crouched low as he moved through the stone walkways he had carefully memorized during the trip from the balcony to the wedding pavilion. Speaking of the wedding, it was just about to start. Cassim would have to act fast.

"Gah!"

Of course it would be faster without Iago shouting so much.

Cassim grabbed Iago from the air and pulled him down to eye level. "Stay quiet. It's no wonder your old master cast you aside if you can't even sneak around correctly."

"Well _sorry_ for having a loud voice, bud! I-" He clamped a mouth over Iago's beak and jumped off the side despite Iago's muffled screams of protests. Before he fell to the earth Cassim grabbed a ledge with his free hand and froze, waiting as footsteps and the glow of torchlight passed by above them. After a few breathless moments he released his chokehold on Iago and climbed back up onto the pathway.

"What was that for?!"

"I was almost spotted. There's this thing called 'stealth', maybe you have heard of it?"

"Oh good, he has a sense of humor." Iago landed on Cassim's shoulder and groaned. "Okay, turn left at the next fork. The royal treasury is down that way."

"You're certain?"

Iago raised an eyebrow and feigned hurt. "Do you really think I'd lie to you?"

"No. I just think you're bad at being a thief, as I have already pointed out." Cassim did turn left despite his own suspicions, though. "Perhaps Donald could have helped us?"

"The duck? Ha! He's too much of a goofy two-shoes, despite any greed. He'd rat us out right away if we went to him."

"But he encouraged me just as much as you did-"

"Caught up in the moment, I'm sure. Cassim, buddy, Donald's not gonna help us. And even if he would, he's not exactly thief material."

Cassim chose not to acknowledge the hypocrisy.

At the end of the hall, just as Iago had said, was the palace's treasury. It was behind a bronze cage door but that door was unlocked. The Sultan was too naïve, too trusting. There, on a podium in the middle of piles of gold, was Cassim's prize. He grinned and walked over to the Oracle's emerald-tipped staff, his callused hands wrapping tightly around the gold shaft.

"At long last…" Cassim looked to Iago on his shoulder. "I promise you, bird, once I get the Hand of Midas I'll take the Sultan up on his offer. I'm going straight."

"Straight to the _dungeons_." A muscular hand grabbed Cassim's hand from behind and he spun around to see a guard with a missing tooth. Cassim swung his other hand out only for two more guards to dogpile him and force him to the ground. Meanwhile, Iago was grabbed by a fourth guard and shoved inside a birdcage.

"How did you find me?!"

The lead guard grinned and kneeled down. "A fat little friend of ours told me." He pulled Cassim's mask off and smiled. "I'm afraid you won't be going to your son's wedding."

**x-x-x**

"Where is he?" Xion watched Aladdin, dressed in his groom clothes once more, pace back and forth in front of the podium where the Sultan would perform the ceremony. "He said he just had to go for a walk after dinner."

Jasmine put a comforting hand on Aladdin's arm and he paused his pacing for the moment. "I'm sure he's on his way," she said, though there was concern in her voice.

Donald, meanwhile, was shifting around nervously over with Sora and Goofy. Xion pursed her lips and moved away from her spot, much to Kairi's confusion. Donald watched her approach and grinned sheepishly—he knew she was suspicious of something.

"Donald, can we talk?"

"Sure! What about, Xion?"

Xion grabbed his arm and pointed outside. "Alone."

"What's up, Xion?" Sora asked while she tugged Donald out into the desert night. "Is it something I can help with?"

"No. I just have to ask Donald some things. It will only take a moment."

Donald's head drooped. "I don't like where this is going…" he muttered.

Once outside, Xion leaned her back against the railing and looked over at Donald. She tried to relax her face. He had no reason to be worried about her snapping or anything, he knew they were friends. But he also seemed especially nervous about _something_, and Xion had her suspicions. "Donald, just who is Cassim?"

"What do you mean?" Donald asked with obviously faked innocence. "He's Aladdin's father."

"Yeah, but where did you find him? Specifically."

"Eheheh…"

This wasn't going to get her anywhere, Xion realized. She just couldn't be intimidating enough—well, okay, she probably _could_, but she'd rather not. She'd have to approach this a different way. A bit more subtly.

"Have you noticed?" she asked, standing up from the railing and crossing her arms. "Cassim isn't the only one missing. I haven't seen Iago either."

Donald's eyes bulged. "Iago? Oh no…"

There was a reaction. But Xion didn't feel victorious, because now Donald seemed especially worried. "Donald, what happened? Do you know where those two are?"

"It might be partly my fault." Donald sighed deeply; Xion knew it was hard for him to admit when he screwed up. "You see…" He took a deep breath before quickly spitting out, "Cassim is the King of Thieves."

Xion blinked. What. "You mean he's not Aladdin's dad?"

"No, he is! …Aladdin's dad is the King of Thieves."

Xion frowned. That, at least, explained where she had heard his voice before; when he had made his escape during the wedding crash. Still… "What do you mean it might be your fault, Donald?"

"I'd like to know, too." Kairi said, walking up with her hands on her hips. "Donald, what did you say to Cassim when Al and I left?"

Donald did _not_ look happy to see her. His shoulders drooped further. "Most of it was Iago, I promise! But we may have pushed him into looking for the Oracle."

"You did _what?!_"

"I only said to try _after_ the wedding! I didn't tell him to lie to Aladdin about it, that was Iago!"

Xion brought a hand to her chin in thought. "…Did he really seem to want to come here for the wedding, or just for the Oracle?"

"He wanted to, he did!"

Xion recalled Cassim's conversation with the Sultan when he arrived. That seemed like genuine cheer, even if in retrospect the stuff concerning the Forty Thieves was obviously faked. Xion nodded. "I guess I can't _entirely_ blame you for it, Donald. And I of all people can't get mad at someone for being tricked by Iago-"

The heavy doors to the wedding pavilion slammed open, the sound resonating out to the balcony. Xion turned to see Razoul march in, shoulders back and head held high. In front of him was Cassim, bound in shackles on his ankles and wrists. One hand was hiding something behind his back.

"Oh no," Kairi whispered.

"Sorry he's late," Razoul hissed, kicking Cassim to the ground. "He seemed a little lost."

As Xion, Kairi, and Donald returned inside, Sora was the first of the stunned group to speak up. "Cassim? What happened?"

Razoul grinned. "I caught the _King of Thieves_ stealing this!" He showed the hand behind his back, revealing the Oracle's gold emerald-tipped staff.

Aladdin's face became one of absolute heartbreak. "Dad, _why?_"

Cassim sighed and kept his face to the floor. He couldn't seem to look Aladdin in the eye. "You can change my clothes, Aladdin, but you can't change who I am. I'm sorry, son."

"That's a lie!" Xion shot back. Cassim stared up at her with confusion, and Razoul cast an irritated glare her way. "Everyone can change."

Razoul didn't allow Cassim to reply, grabbing him by the back of his collar and pulling him up to his feet. "Well, I'm sure he'll have _plenty_ of time to change...in the palace dungeons!"

"No, Dad!" Aladdin cried, following Razoul out the door. However, Sora grabbed Al's arm before he got far. "Sora, let me go!"

Sora shook his head. "Al, what's going on?"

"Aladdin?" Jasmine asked softly.

Aladdin looked around at the nervous faces, lingering on Donald and Kairi especially. He couldn't seem to bring himself to look at Jasmine. He took a deep breath, opened, his mouth, then snapped it shut. He looked to be considering how to go through this in his head.

"Cassim is the King of Thieves," Donald spit out. All heads turned to him and he let out a slow, awkward laugh. "He's Al's dad _and_ the King of Thieves. He wasn't kept prisoner by them."

"Aladdin-" Jasmine began.

Al shook his head and moved over to one of the windows. "I wanted to give him another chance. I wanted him to come to the wedding. I wanted him to be with me." He sat on the windowsill and rested his head in his hands. "I guess it was a stupid idea."

"Trying to give your father a better life wasn't stupid, Al." Genie walked over and put a hand on his friend's back. "Leaving him alone with the birds, _that_ was stupid." Donald crossed his arms and grumbled, but said nothing. Genie moved so he was in front of Aladdin and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Al—there are some wishes that even I can't make come true."

"…But if there's one thing you taught me," Al said softly, "it's that sometimes we can't rely on just wishes." He stood up and took off his hat, running a hand through his hair. "Jasmine, please go. If you don't know what's about to happen you can't get in trouble."

"What do you mean, 'what's about to happen?'"

He didn't answer her. "Genie, can you take Jasmine to her room?"

Genie seemed to be catching on. "Now Al, think about what you're doing here-"

"Genie!"

"…Fine. Come on, princess." He grabbed her by the arm. "You don't want to see this. Plausible deniability and all that."

Jasmine struggled against Genie's grip, but he wrapped her up in one of his trademark powerful hugs. "Aladdin!" They vanished in a cloud of blue smoke.

Aladdin turned to those who were left. "I need a Keyblade. Please."

Sora crossed his arms. "Aladdin, just _what_ are you up to?"

"Tonight the King of Thieves is making his most miraculous escape ever," he said while tearing off a piece of cloth from his clothing and wrapping it around his face like a mask.

Goofy frowned nervously. "Gawrsh, you're gonna break him out of prison? But Aladdin…"

"I know what I'm doing. Trust me, I won't get caught—and that's why I had Jasmine leave, so she doesn't find out. And if I use a Keyblade then I can get in and get out quickly."

Sora shook his head. "Al, I know he's your dad and all, but I can't just go around breaking laws and freeing prisoners. I don't think this is a good idea."

"Sora, please. If you don't help me, then-"

Xion took in a deep breath. People can change. Cassim _did_ seem genuinely ashamed of himself. "I'll go."

**x-x-x**

"Well isn't _this _a fine mess you got us into?!"

Iago's latest rant was gnawing at Cassim's patience. Here he sat, in the dark, dirty dungeon with some form of liquid (he dearly hoped it was water) dripping down from the ceiling. His ankles and wrists were chained to the walls and his only companion from the parrot—that damnable, loud parrot. This was all his fault.

"What _I_ got us into? You're the one who told me that the Oracle is real!"

"Well you didn't have to _listen_ to me!" Iago groaned and slumped down in his little rusted birdcage. "_No one_ should listen to me!"

Cassim looked away. Arguing would get him nowhere. He adjusted his chained limbs as best he could for comfort, not that it was much. Couldn't Agrabah afford better conditions for their prisoners? Wasn't it a rich city?

There was a muffled sound just on the other side of the cell door which suddenly caught Cassim's attention. It sounded like a man collapsing. With a raised eyebrow he stood up as much as he was able to and watched as the keyhole to the door flashed for an instant before the door swung open with a rusty creak. Aladdin was standing on the other side with the Oracle's staff, and the girl with him – Xion, wasn't it? – carried a strange black and white sword unlike any he had ever seen. With a wave of her weapon his shackles became undone and the door to Iago's cage opened.

"Thanks for the save, Xion. Looks like I owe you two now," Iago said with a puppy-dog smile. Xion didn't reply, instead choosing to remain silent while Aladdin helped Cassim up to his feet.

"What sort of magic is that?" Cassim asked, rubbing his numb wrists. "Never mind. What are you _doing_ here, boy?"

"Breaking you out." Aladdin handed the Oracle's staff to Cassim, and Cassim had to admit a sort of eagerness in his gut as he took it. "Take this, find the Hand of Midas, and stay far away from Agrabah."

"Aladdin-"

"We don't have time to talk," he snapped.

Xion pointed down the hall with her strange sword. "Come on. The guards won't stay unconscious for long."

Cassim smirked. "Very well."

As they made their ways through the shadowy halls, Cassim found himself impressed with just how well Aladdin had handled it. Lines of guards were unconscious, all spread out a decent distance so the next guard wouldn't get suspicious before they became a victim. And none of them were dead either, or even seriously hurt. They'd wake up with headaches but nothing more.

They traveled through the lower levels of the palace, through empty servant quarters and service tunnels. On one occasion they went through an underground waterway, much to Xion's dislike; Cassim hadn't noticed until now that she was wearing sandals. Finally they emerged in the back exit of the palace, near the stables. A sleek brown horse was already equipped with a saddle and Aladdin shoved its reins into Cassim's hands.

"Go. Get out of here before morning."

"But what about you? Aladdin, don't risk your future for me."

"We weren't found." Aladdin sighed. "Dad, I just wanted this to be a special thing for us, but I guess it wouldn't work out."

Cassim smiled and embraced his boy – his strong, wonderful boy – in a hug. "Aladdin, thank you. But I'm afraid people aren't as easy to change as clothes are."

"You're wrong." Frowning, Cassim pulled away from Aladdin to look at Xion, who stood by the door back into the palace. "People _can_ change, Cassim. I'm living proof of that."

Cassim raised an eyebrow. "Just what do you mean by that?"

She smiled sadly. "Don't waste your question with the Oracle asking about me." Cassim glanced over his shoulder at the staff strapped to his back. "Sunrise is coming soon, you know. Aladdin, we need to get back inside."

"Right."

"Hey, what about me?!" Iago cried. Cassim had forgotten all about him—he had been sitting on his shoulder without saying a word.

"Go with him," Aladdin offered.

"What?" Cassim and Iago both asked at the same time before shooting glares at each other.

Xion smiled. "They go great together."

"Aladdin, this isn't a good idea."

"We don't have time to debate, Dad." Aladdin said, motioning to the horse. "You need to go _now_ or we'll all be on the executioner's block." Damn it all, he was right. Cassim had a bright son, he had to admit that.

"Fine then. Farewell, Aladdin!" The horse stood up on its hind legs, neighing loudly as Cassim gripped its reins. "The people of Agrabah will always remember this as the day they almost caught the King of Thieves!"

**x-x-x**

"Where is Cassim?"

"He has not returned since setting out with the new blood."

"He has abandoned us to his family. I told you all this would happen!"

From hid hiding place within a corridor of darkness, Abis Mal chuckled to himself. Everything was going exactly as he had hoped it would—which honestly was a big change for him, and so he was going to milk this for all it was worth. His plan had been simple, really: make sure Cassim never returned to the Forty Thieves by getting him arrested, and then swoop in and take control using his powers over the Heartless. That would teach them for shooting him down from joining the group. Soon the Forty Thieves would work for _him_.

The problem being, of course, he only had enough control over the Heartless to call Shadows. Hopefully that would be enough.

Abis Mal stepped out of the shadows into the open torchlight, and immediately all manner of blades were pointed at him. He laughed nervously and backed away. "H-Hey. How's it going, guys?"

One of the thieves grimaced. "It is only the abysmal little street rat."

"Hey, that's _Abis Mal_ to you!" One of the scimitars pressed closer to his neck. "I-I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"And why not?" another thief asked with a sneer.

"B-Because my friends wouldn't be happy if you did." Abis Mal pointed a shaking finger to the shadows just out of the reach of the torches and squeezed his eyes shut, calling on the powers Maleficent had taught him. Much to his joy, beady golden eyes did appear as the shadows came to life. Abis Mal had to keep himself from laughing in joy.

"The monsters!" There were gasps of horror and the clatter of dropped swords as more Shadows arrived. The crowd of thieves backed up as one. "He controls the monsters!"

"That's right," Abis Mal said with renewed confidence. He stood up and wiped some sweat from his cheek. "And if you want to stay on their good side, then stay on _my_ good side." He climbed up onto a fallen stone obelisk and raised a fist into the air. "Forty Thieves! Cassim has abandoned you! I saw it with my own eyes, he lives now in the palace of Agrabah with his son! He used you as merely stepping stones—you, who swore a blood oath to follow him!" The crowd rumbled with agitated murmurs—agitation directed at Cassim.

_Abis Mal you beautiful, wonderful man_, he thought with a barely-hidden grin. He could _not_ believe things were going his way.

"But I can lead you to a better time! Forget Cassim and follow me, and the Forty Thieves will once again have plenty of loot in the lair! So gather the troops, you're meant to regroup, and return to your roots once again!" He grinned and leaned forward. "Are you in or out?"

"YEAH!" came the chorus of cries.

At that moment, however, the cavern rumbled. The hidden passageway flew open and a familiar man with graying hair and a short beard entered riding a horse. Abis Mal's face fell and the Forty Thieves grew quiet. Cassim had somehow escaped?

Well, things had been going so well for him this far. Maybe he could push his luck once more. "Men, the traitor returns! What do we do to traitors?!"

There was a slight pause, but when at Abis Mal's command the Heartless leaped up threateningly the Forty Thieves moved forward with a battle cry, threatening Cassim with weapons drawn. He backed up, confused, before noticing Abis Mal and widening his eyes in surprise.

"Take the staff!" Abis Mal commanded. "We will use the Oracle to find the greatest treasure of all: the Hand of Midas!"


	17. Solid Gold

**Chapter 17: Solid Gold**

There was no storm out on the seas this morning, but still Cassim found himself drenched. The boat rocked wildly in the open waters and the waves crashed over the sides, soaking him, Iago, and everyone else aboard. And worse, Cassim couldn't even dry himself off because he was tied to the mast. Not one single member of the Forty Thieves knew how to manage a boat, evidently, and the little usurper wasn't any good at giving commands.

Abis Mal leaned over the side of the boat as it swayed, no doubt vomiting up his dinner. Cassim had no idea how he had stolen command—wait, no, he did. He glanced at the shadows under the railing on the edge of the boat, where numerous pairs of unblinking golden eyes stared out at him. Iago, tied up as Cassim was, inched away from the black creatures with a grumble. Cassim occasionally caught sight of his traitorous men looking over their shoulders at the shadows, and knew that if it weren't for Abis Mal's pets they wouldn't be serving him.

He had been surprised initially by their behavior when he returned to the lair. Not that he had been expecting a warm welcome, of course, but a coup? A coup led by _Abis Mal? _Cassim had fought them off best he could, of course, but one mere man against thirty-eight is never going to win no matter how skilled. And after he had been subdued Abis Mal took the Oracle's staff from them then sent the shadows to find them a vessel. And so they had sailed away into the ocean in search of the Vanishing Isle and the Hand of Midas within it.

Abis Mal finally finished hurling his lunch into the ocean and turned to face the bound Cassim. He tapped the staff against the hull of the boat and looked out to the grey horizon. The sun was beginning to rise.

"So where is it, Your Majesty?"

"Why don't you ask the Oracle?" Cassim growled.

Abis Mal glanced at the emerald on the edge of the staff and smirked. "Oh no. Why waste my question when I can have _you_ ask for me? Then I get one of my own later."

"Keep him busy for just a little longer," Cassim heard Iago whisper next to him. He resisted the urge to look to the parrot for fear of giving him away, but he felt the ropes shifting. Was Iago trying to escape?

He turned his attention back to Abis Mal. "And how am I supposed to ask the Oracle if I cannot hold the staff?" He wiggled his fingers - which were sticking out from under the ropes - for emphasis.

Abis Mal pursed his lips as he glanced between Cassim's bound arms and the staff. Then, after a few moments of eternal debate, he grimaced and shoved the staff inside the ropes next to Cassim, rubbing up against him in fact. "There. _Now_ you can ask your question."

"Almost…got it…" Iago whispered in a strained voice.

Iago would need a distraction of he was going to get away without the men or shadows seeing him. Hopefully the Oracle would provide enough of a distraction. "Very well, Abis Mal. I'll ask the question." Raising his voice so everyone aboard the boat could hear, he asked the staff, "Where is the current location of the Vanishing Isle?"

A blinding white light erupted from the emerald the moment the words left passed his lips. While everyone else covered their eyes, Cassim was forced to squeeze his shut with his hands still bound. As the light began to fade Cassim heard a gasp of relief and opened one eye slightly to watch Iago fly away at top speed. But his attention was soon taken by something else, for now an ethereal white figure, feminine in appearance and wearing a flowing cloak, appeared above the water.

"I am the Oracle, I know all and see all," she spoke in an echoing voice. "The Vanishing Isle sleeps, but come sunrise will surface. The light will guide your way." She waved a hand to her left and a pillar of pure white light rose out of the water far on the horizon. The winds picked up, moving in a favorable direction to get them there quickly.

"All hands to stations!" Abis Mal shouted to the crew. "Get those sheets down!" They're called _sails_, you idiot. "Set a course down the starboard side!" _Port_ side. Was this man really leading the Forty Thieves?

Cassim tuned out Abis Mal's remaining shouts – he would simply grow more aggravated if he continued to listen – and looked in the direction Iago had flown off. That bird better get help quick.

And then it occurred to Cassim. Oh no, he put his faith in _Iago_.

**x-x-x**

Things weren't much more pleasant at Agrabah than they were out on the sea. After Cassim's 'mysterious disappearance' the night before, Razoul had been called on by the Sultan in private. Everyone else was sitting in the gardens, and Jasmine was noticeably distant from Aladdin. Every now and then she would send a disappointed glance his way, only to turn around when he noticed her staring.

"She knows." Aladdin slumped forward and supported his head with his hand, his arm in turn supported by his knee.

Genie shrugged. "I'm sure she suspects something, but she can't probe it. I got her out of there before she actually _saw_ you do anything stupid." He frowned and leaned in close to the chess board the two of them were sitting at. "Al, it's your move." Aladdin groaned and knocked the board away, scattering the pieces – which were shaped like Heartless and Nobodies – over the grass. "That's a good move."

Some laughter would be good for all of them, Xion thought. Unfortunately, just as Genie began to speak to Al in one of his many impersonations of people she had never heard of, Sora tapped her on the shoulder. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He looked serious—concerned, not angry. But still serious.

Xion nodded. "Uh, sure." To her surprise, Sora pulled away, moving down the dirt path a few yards and stopping by a hedge. Xion raised an eyebrow and then shrugged, following him down the path. "You got some big secret to hide?"

"I'm more worried about you."

Xion felt her mouth shape into a slight frown on its own. "If this is about Aladdin's dad-" She didn't need to finish, because Sora's expression told her everything. "What's the problem?"

"You shouldn't have busted him out like that, Xion."

Xion curled her hands into tight fists at her side. "Sora, _I_ changed. Why can't he?"

But Sora shook his head. "That's not the problem, Xion. The problem is that you freed a prisoner! Aladdin's dad or not, Cassim was stealing from the palace and broke the law-"

"What about Alice?" Xion snapped.

Sora frowned. "What about Alice?"

"How is what I did last night _any_ different than what you did in Wonderland for Alice way back when you interrupted the trial?"

Sora's mouth snapped shut and his eyes grew downcast. "Wonderland was…" He shook his head. "Alice wasn't guilty, Xion. That's the difference." He let out an uncharacteristic sigh. "I just don't want you to get in trouble for this. Cassim seemed like a really nice guy but he did break the law."

"You still did pretty much the same thing…" she muttered. But before the argument could continue, they were interrupted by a scratchy voice calling them from a distance.

"Aladdin! Xion, Sora, _somebody! _I need _anybody!_"

Sora glanced up at the horizon and squinted his eyes to see through the bright sunlight. "Iago?"

The little red parrot flew in over the city, panting heavily and eyelids drooping. Once he saw the assembled group in the garden, he let out a sigh of relief and stopped flapping and fell into a bush. Goofy was on the scene first, digging through the plant and scooping Iago up in his hands.

"Gawrsh Iago, are you okay? I thought you went back with Cassim."

"I-I-" Iago gulped. "Water. I need water!"

"Oh, woops! I bet ya do." With everyone watching, Goofy carried Iago over to the fountain where Jasmine sat and set him on the smooth stone. Iago grabbed the inner edges and dunked his head into the clear water, gulping it down and only raising his head up when it was time to breathe.

"Oh, that's _so_ much better." He let out a content sigh and paused for a moment before seemingly remembering where he was. With wide eyes Iago bolted up into the air, flapping his wings frantically and circling above everyone's heads. "That's right, that's right! It's horrible! Awful! We need to get out to the ocean right away!"

"Iago, calm down." Xion jumped up with her hand raised and caught him from the air. "What happened? I thought you were with Cassim."

"Yes, I _was _with him. But when we got to the Forty Thieves' lair, they turned on us! And Abis Mal was leading them, with _Heartless_ on his side!" Iago shuddered. "He took us out to sea and had Cassim as the Oracle where to find the Vanishing Isle. I escaped to warn you guys."

A disturbed silence rippled through the group and Xion nearly dropped Iago in surprise. Heartless. Abis Mal was using Heartless. Was this all a part of Maleficent's scheming, or was he working on his own? Hopefully the latter. Without Maleficent Xion doubted he could call on any particularly powerful Heartless.

"So that's what happened to Abis Mal…" Kairi said, more to herself than to the others.

Aladdin rolled his shoulders. "We need to go save my dad," he said. "And if Abis Mal has Heartless, then he's also a threat that needs to be taken care of. Genie?"

"I'm ready when you are, Al!" A bolt from Genie's hands struck Carpet, expanding it until it was big enough to fit all of them aboard it. "I missed the last tussle with the Forty Thieves, but not this time! I'm with you all the way!"

Aladdin shook his head. "You need to stay here and watch the barrier, Genie."

Genie frowned so much the sides of his mouth fell from his face. "You know, I'm really starting to regret putting that thing up," he grumbled while crossing his arms. "Never get to go out anywhere… Fine! I'll hold down the fort." A green camouflage uniform appeared on Genie and he gave a salute. "Agrabah will be defended with my life, sir!"

Iago laughed awkwardly. "And I'll be staying here safe and sound with him."

"Heh, fine." Aladdin turned to Sora next, but he shook his head before he could say anything.

"We're not staying behind again, Aladdin."

Xion nodded. "Yeah. Besides, you'll want Keyblades with you against Heartless. I know you handled them fine on your own, but if they're intentionally going after you instead of you just running into them…"

Aladdin ran a hand through his hair and grinned. "Fine. I guess I can't stop you."

"Al-"

"Genie, we really need _someone_ to watch the barrier."

"Fiiiine."

While everyone began climbing aboard the floating Carpet, Aladdin turned to face one last person. "Jasmine, I-"

Jasmine walked over and gave Aladdin a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good luck. Aladdin…I know you'll do the right thing. You always do."

Aladdin blushed and rubbed the back of his head, but there was a smile on his face. "Thanks," he said softly. "We'll be back tonight. And this time we really _will_ have our wedding. No more delays."

"I'll hold you to that."

**x-x-x**

Iago may not have been around to guide them to Abis Mal and Cassim, but honestly they didn't really need him to be. Once Carpet reached the coastline they knew exactly where to go. You'd have to be blind not to notice the huge pillar of light rising out of the surface of the water in the distance. Xion's grip on Carpet's threads tightened as Aladdin pushed him forward over the open ocean. As they approached their goal the pillar of light faded, revealing a jungle island decorated with remarkably in-tact temples of marble and gold sitting atop sheer brown cliffs. They swept around the island in a wide arc, trying to find a good place to land, when they came around to the north side and Xion nearly fell off of Carpet in surprise.

"The island…" she said weakly, her jaw hanging open.

Aladdin shook his head in disbelief. "It's a giant _turtle._"

It was just that. A reptilian blue-green head stuck out of the north side of the island, and one of its giant black eyes – easily larger than all of them together – watched them slowly. It was then that Xion realized what she had taken to be steep cliffs were in fact the plates of the turtle's shell, and now as she watched the water carefully she could see its massive flippers drifting beneath the waves.

"Never in the same place twice…" Sora said.

"Gawrsh, it must swim under the water!"

They flew over the turtle's neck and into the temple, which showed remarkably little erosion for spending so much time under water. As Carpet glided between the spires, Xion saw familiar hand symbols carved into the gold, just like the one Cassim wore. The Hand of Midas was definitely here.

"Look!" Kairi's cry pulled Carpet to a stop and she pointed down below them. There was exactly one section of the island that wasn't in pristine condition, with stone rubble and crumbling pillars, and it was immediately evident why. A clashing tide of black and white stormed across the area below them, with several men cowering in the middle of the Heartless and Nobody battle. There were far fewer than forty thieves though there were more than enough weapons scattered about. The Heartless also outnumbered the Nobodies significantly.

Xion did not like the implications.

"We can't just leave them down there," Kairi said, turning around to face everyone else.

Donald sighed. "I don't like it, but we _should_ go help them."

Aladdin nodded in silent agreement and had Carpet swoop down, lowering and approaching the battle. He stood up and drew his scimitar as Carpet moved closer, and jumped off to pierce a Fat Bandit through its upper back. Xion and Sora called forth their Keyblades and jumped off next, while Goofy followed while spinning his shield around. Kairi and Donald came down last, Kairi sending pillars of water up from the stone to both slow their descent and knock the crowds away.

"Goofy, keep an eye on the remaining thieves!" Sora called out as he knocked away a Dusk.

"I gotcha, buddy!" Goofy held his shield out in front of him and barreled through the crowd of enemies to reach the men, knocking aside Heartless and Nobody alike.

Two Dancers flew at Xion with their legs outstretched, spinning back-to-back in a combination kick. Xion rolled out of the way and cast Pearl at the pair as she came out of the roll, knocking them off-center. She ran up behind the Nobodies and pierced one of them through the back, but the second one regained its balance and hit Xion with a powerful roundhouse kick to the chest. Xion was sent flying right into a group of Fortunetellers.

The feminine Heartless balanced on their crystal balls and raised their hands in unison. Spears of ice materialized in the air and rained down on the battlefield, forcing Xion to jump onto her feet. Behind her she heard the Dancer swerve around the icicles before one finally pierced it; the sound of the ice entering the Nobody's soft skin was something like '_shhnn_'and made Xion shiver.

Their immediate enemy gone for now, the Fortunetellers turned their attention to Xion. One flash of blue later and Xion toppled forward, her feet rooted to the ground and trapped in ice. Damn it, she was still wearing those sandals. Xion shook her head and let out a short chuckle despite the situation; it really said something about how much they fought that she was more worried about frostbite than the Heartless. Of course, the Heartless were still a threat. Trapped like this, Xion wasn't capable of much; she couldn't even turn around to face them head-on. She cast Pearl blindly over her shoulder again and saw an explosion of black particles out of the corner of her eye, but what joy that got her was briefly cut when more ice manifested around her hands.

"Fire!" Kairi and Donald called out together, sending twin waves of flame out at the Fortunetellers—and at some of the other Nobodies and Heartless nearby as well. The heat radiating from their attack melted the ice on Xion's limbs, and she stood up feeling chilly but no worse for wear.

"You okay?" Kairi asked, casting a small Cure spell and standing back to back with Xion.

"That could have been a lot worse."

"You need a drink to get back on your feet?"

"Please."

"Okay!" Kairi raised her hand into the air and formed an orb of water, which swirled and rippled until it formed into a funnel shape. Xion raised her Keyblade, pressing the tip against the water, and called on an Aerora spell. The winds met with the water spout, causing it to move violently until finally it broke apart, scattering water through the air and raining it down on everything in the area. "Donald!"

"I got it! Magnega!" Donald's staff released a purple-grey spark, which formed into a diamond shape and called all of the now soaking wet Heartless and Nobodies together. Once everything was in a big clump, he raised his staff once again and Kairi ran up next to him. "Thundaga!"

"Thundara!" Kairi added in.

The bolts of lightning struck the gathered enemies, surging through their bodies and doing more damage because of the water conducting the electricity. There was a symphony of explosions and fading whispers as Heartless and Nobody alike perished in the magical onslaught. When all was said and done, everyone turned to face the shocked and groveling thieves.

"Thank you, thank you!" A deathly thin one with _green_ skin said. "Oh, we were so close to becoming one of them like our comrades!" Xion looked around at the scattered weapons. So they had been left behind by the Heartless' victims after all.

"Was my father one of them?" Aladdin asked coldly. "And what about Abis Mal? Did he sic these things on you?"

"No," a second thief, one with a long black goatee, spat. "Abis Mal fled as soon as we ran into those monsters, leaving us to fend for our lives!"

"Yes, yes!" a third said while nodding quickly. "And Cassim chased after him."

"It sounds to me like Abis Mal didn't summon these Heartless," Goofy said. He looked up to the temple. "He musta gone on ahead to find the Hand of Midas."

"What a coward," Donald said.

Kairi grinned mischievously. "You're one to talk."

"Hey!"

Sora moved up to Aladdin. "It's your call, Al. Do you want us to stay back here and protect these guys while you go find your dad?"

Aladdin shook his head. "No. Carpet can take them out to their boat, and they'll sail away." He looked back at them. "Won't you?"

"Yes, far away! None of us have any desire to come back here!"

"It's settled then." Xion pointed up a road that sloped along the mountains – er, the turtle's back – and led into the temple. "Let's keep moving."

While for the rest of the climb they never ended up in the middle of a Heartless/Nobody battle like before, things weren't exactly peaceful either. The group was constantly on edge, not only because of worry over Cassim, but because the sounds of battle echoed from all over the temple complex. On more than one occasion Xion spotted a Dusk swiveling through the sky only to get shot down by an Air Pirate, or a Bandit attacked by a Dragoon that stalked among the rooftops. There was a constant worry that at any moment they could get ambushed. But the Heartless and Nobodies were so preoccupied with each other that even two Keyblades wasn't enough to pull them from their war.

Eventually, through twisting corridors and shallow canals, the group found themselves in an open-ceiling chamber where the floor and walls were lined with shimmering gold. Up a set of sparkling stairs stood a statue of a man in a hood and cloak, holding in his hands…well, another hand. The Hand of Midas was literally shaped like a hand. And in front of the statue, reaching up to the Hand of Midas, was Abis Mal.

"Be careful with that, Abis Mal!" Cassim knelt on the ground, one Shadow on his back and another's claws pressed against his neck; although Xion could see it occasionally inch lower, toward his chest. "Lay one finger on the Hand and you'll become solid gold, just like the rest of this room!"

Abis Mal hesitated, then took his hat off and picked the Hand up with that. Doing so changed the color of its threads to a golden hue. "Why would you warn an enemy?" His voice was laced with suspicion.

"You're scum, but no one deserves that fate. I- Aladdin?!"

Aladdin ran toward Cassim from the entryway, sliding along the gold floor and knocking the Shadows away with his sword. "We're here to rescue you, Dad!"

"I… I don't know what to say."

"Maybe not, but I do," Abis Mal growled, clutching the hat holding the Hand of Midas closer to himself. "You want the Hand. You want to take it from me! Well, you can't have it!"

"Abis Mal, be careful with that thing!" Xion warned, watching as the Hand rocked slightly inside his golden cap.

"The Hand of Midas belongs to me!"

"The fool has been completely taken in by greed," Cassim said. "It wormed its way inside his heart. That must be how he commanded those black monsters."

A chilling thought occurred to Xion then and she eyed Abis Mal warily. As he ranted and raved about the Hand being his, a purple-black aura began to form around his body and smoky black wisps were rising up from him.

"Mine, mine! You won't get your hands on it!" Abis Mal continued ranting, and the darkness continued growing. Xion glanced at her friends, and one look was all she need to know that they saw it too.

Sora stepped forward. "Abis Mal, calm down. Your heart is-"

"NO! You want it! _Get away from me!_"

Abis Mal's scream echoed through the chamber and there was a moment of silence that was simultaneously brief and seemed to drag on forever. Xion tightened her grip on her Keyblade, feeling sweat gather on her skin, and looked around carefully for any Heartless that would leap out at them. The only sound was the dark aura around Abis Mal growing ever stronger.

Then, a deafening roar echoed throughout the chamber. The wall behind Abis Mall shattered, sending giant chunks of gold and stone flying in every direction. As the dust cleared, Xion saw a massive Heartless standing atop the stairs. Its body was off-white, close to the shade of Aladdin's wedding outfit, save for the brown feet, brown abdomen, and _six_ brown hands. A cobra-like head stretched and hissed as its golden eyes watched the group carefully. Two of its six hands moved, shifting the twin crescent swords in their grip. While her first instinct was that Abis Mal must have turned into this thing, she spotted him running down a corridor in the back of the room instead. So he only called it, then.

Cassim saw it too. Turning to Aladdin, he pointed down the corridor Abis Mal had run. "Go after him! I will handle this creature!"

"No way, Dad. You have no idea what a Heartless is capable of!"

"But we do," Kairi said with a step forward.

Sora shook his head adamantly. "Kairi, you're good. But you're not ready to face a big Heartless like this on your own just yet."

"Don't you worry, Sora." Goof put a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "Me an' Donald will be right here with her to help out!"

"You guys…"

Xion shook her head and grabbed Sora's hand, pulling him toward the passage. "We _really_ don't have a lot of time to debate. Abis Mal is getting away as we speak. Come on!"

Sora hesitated, looking back at Kairi, but she had already turned her attention to the monstrous Heartless along with Cassim, Donald, and Goofy. "…Okay, let's go. And hurry!" Xion, Sora, and Aladdin ran down the passageway, chasing after Abis Mal. Xion tried her best to tune out the explosions and roars coming from the chamber behind them.

Though the path ahead was fairly straightforward, Abis Mal had gotten a good head start on the three of them and so was currently out of sight. As their feet left hollow echoes on the gold floor, Xion spared a glance out of a large window to her right. Was the water…rising?

The entire temple shook.

"Whoa!" Sora called out, tripping and falling face-first. The shaking wasn't like an earthquake, but rather like… Xion didn't know _what_ it was like. It was a sensation she had never felt before. Sora climbed back up and grabbed at a nearby pillar for support. "What's going on?"

Aladdin spared a glance outside. "I think-" A loud rushing sound drowned out the rest of his words. Xion glanced up above her, where the sound was coming from, and her face paled. She knew what it was.

"RUN!" she commanded, sprinting as fast as she could down the corridor as the rushing sound grew louder and louder. The rapid clatter of footsteps behind her assured Xion that Sora and Aladdin were following, though what she couldn't be sure of was if they had noticed what they were running from.

_This passage is too level._ They needed to find elevation, and fast... There! Xion jumped up to a marble overhang halfway up the golden wall, grabbing tightly on it and finding a hold in the small cracks and breaks in the stone. She pulled herself up before looking down at a bewildered Sora and Aladdin. "Up here! Hurry!"

They didn't question her. Aladdin glanced back the way they had come and Xion realized that he had probably figured out what was behind them. Sora climbed up first and Aladdin after him, three people squashed together on a small ledge that would probably crack under their combined weight at a moment's notice. But a moment was all they needed.

A tide of blue poured down the golden passageway from the direction that they had come, a torrent of seawater covering everything beneath them. Even as it poured out the windows and into the temple complex below, more water rushed in so that it never drained out of the hall.

"The turtle must be submerging," Xion said as she watched the water rush beneath them. "We don't have a lot of time." Hopefully the others were okay and not currently underwater.

"What are we going to do now?" Sora asked. "I don't see any way out from here."

Aladdin's eyes and mouth narrowed and he looked above them, searching for a way out. "There." He pointed to a small, easily-missed hole where the ceiling and wall met. It looked just big enough for a person to crawl through, and there was a breeze coming from it. A breeze meant it didn't lead to a dead end. "Xion, you go first."

Xion blinked. "Me?"

"Not to say you're weak, but you have the least upper body strength out of all of us. You'd have trouble lifting us up." Xion frowned, but he was right. "You first, then Sora, then me."

"Well, at least I'm not wearing a skirt." Hey, something positive to say about Genie's clothes. That was nice. "Help me up then." Sora and Aladdin cupped their hands together and Xion stepped up, then they lifted her to the hole. "Okay, I got it." She felt their support vanish as they pulled away and she pulled herself up to the hole as she had the ledge minutes ago.

There was no tunnel like Xion had been expecting. Rather, the hole opened right up into the next chamber. Well…'chamber' wasn't exactly the right word for it. They appeared to be at the top of the temple now, because Xion recognized this area; she had seen it when Carpet had flown above it. A sparkling river fed by a fountain flowed through the marble floor and down the side at a gradual angle. A large platform shaped like a golden hand hovered in the air just above the fountain, and in the hand's palm was… Who? It certainly wasn't Abis Mal. Sora jumped down behind Xion, and he seemed just as confused.

The man had incredibly pale skin, almost grey. The scleras of his eyes were stained yellow like he was sick, his head was bald, and a thin black mustache fell to the sides of his mouth. On his muscular torso was the torn remains of what had once been a vest, and a golden claw weapon was on one of his fists.

"Sa'luk?!" Aladdin called out in surprise, jumping down from the hole and joining Xion and Sora.

"Hello there, boy," the man called Sa'luk said with a sneer.

"How did you survive? I pierced you in the-"

"In the heart, yes. And you know, I thought I'd be angrier about that." Sa'luk uncrossed his arms, revealing a horrible-looking wound across his chest. Instead of blood, black and white wisps escaped the wound and rose into the air before fading. That could only mean he was a Nobody. "A man in an eyepatch saved me. He made me a deal." Sa'luk slammed his fists together and then pointed forward—not at Aladdin, but at Sora. "He wants the spiky-haired one out of the way…and for the girl to live. I do that, and he'll give me all the riches and gold I could want."

Eyepatch? Braig? "Braig wants Sora gone?"

"Something about making sure he doesn't 'interfere with Poppet and Vanitas'. I didn't make it a point to ask; didn't have the heart to care." He let out a slow chuckle.

"Last time we fought I beat you," Aladdin said. "I'll do that again."

Sa'luk grinned. "Yes, you did; but no, you won't. I've gotten so much stronger. Look at this." He stretched an arm out and then clenched his hand into a fist. The marble floor beneath them shuddered and then rose up, taking them with it. Then with another gesture from Sa'luk the stone shifted into a steep ramp and the three of them tumbled down onto the golden hand platform.

"Welcome to our arena!" Sa'luk said with a stomp of his foot. While Xion and the others climbed up to their feet the platform shuddered and fell into the river, where it began following the flow of the water. "I hope you're ready to die, boy."

Sora called on his Keyblade and got into a battle position, but shook his head. "Listen, Braig isn't someone you can trust. We can help you; Xion is also a Nobody-"

"I didn't come here to chat!" Sa'luk slammed a fist onto the platform and it rumbled once more. Sharp spikes of solid gold erupted out of the palm of the giant hand, mere inches from impaling them. Sa'luk charged at the shocked Sora and slammed his weaponless fist hard into Sora's face.

"Metal and stone bend to my will."

The spikes morphed into animated tendrils and wrapped themselves around Sora, trapping him in solid bonds. Sa'luk stepped closer, but was so focused on his target that he didn't see Xion before she struck her Keyblade across his chest. Sa'luk staggered backwards and threatened to fall off the platform, but a wall of gold extended upwards behind him and supported him.

"You aren't my target, little girl!" Sa'luk roared, swinging his claw weapon at Xion. Xion jumped up above him, flipped over his attack, and stabbed her Keyblade into his shoulder. Sa'luk roared in pain and fury as more black and white wisps flew out of the wound and spun around to backhand Xion. But she had already fled from his immediate area.

"Sora!" The boy was struggling against his binds, which were too tight for him to do anything more that wiggle around helplessly. "Hold still, I have an idea." Xion pointed her Keyblade forward and light sparked to life at its tip. Technically this wasn't a lock, really, and there certainly wasn't a keyhole, but hopefully it would work.

Sa'luk didn't seem willing to give her a chance and he charged at her from behind. However, Aladdin intercepted the attack, locking his sword in between Sa'luk's claws.

Sa'luk growled under his breath. "I cannot kill the girl, but _you_ I'm more than willing to mutilate."

"Come and try me, then."

While Aladdin and Sa'luk clashed behind her, Xion turned her attention back to Sora's trap. The Keyblade fired its beam of light and it thankfully worked, the golden tendrils breaking apart and returning to the platform. Sora dropped to his knees and took in a long breath of air.

"That was very tight," he said with a gasp. Xion held up a hand and helped him up to his feet.

The sound clashing metal pulled their attention to Aladdin. His scimitar was knocked out of his grasp and flew through the air, threatening to fall into the water. However, it stopped mid-fall and hovered in the air. Sa'luk grinned. The metal of the blade began to twist and liquidate, shifting into some new shape. Sa'luk held up his hand without a weapon and the metal flew toward him, taking the shape of a new three-clawed weapon identical to his other one in all ways except for the silver color.

"Despite its value, gold is actually one of the softest metals," Sa'luk said while examining his new weapon. "But steel! Steel is powerful. Steel is what holds_ real_ value. Where did you get this quality metal, boy? It is far too grand for a street rat like you!" He charged forward with his new weapon, raking Aladdin across the chest and drawing blood.

When he brought his gold weapon down for a follow-up attack, Xion and Sora rushed forward and crossed their Keyblades between Aladdin and Sa'luk, blocking the strike. Sa'luk grimaced and clenched his fists, watching the Keyblades with expectation in his eyes. Nothing happened.

The two of them attacked in a cross-slash, knocking Sa'luk back and onto the floor. "Keyblades aren't just made of ordinary metal," Sora said while pointing his at Sa'luk. Sparks flared at the tip and it became coated in a Fire spell. "Your magic won't work."

Sora jumped back and tossed his Keyblade, the fire-boosted Strike Raid slamming into Sa'luk, leaving a scar of burnt flesh across his chest. Before Sa'luk could recover Xion moved forward and stabbed her own Keyblade through his stomach, then jumped back and released a burst of light from her palm.

Sa'luk stabilized himself by forming gold around his feet and locking himself into place. More spikes of gold erupted out of the ground, forcing Aladdin, Xion, and Sora to move swiftly to avoid being gutted. Their traveling platform, meanwhile, had reached a large circular room that was almost completely flooded. Waterfalls fell down from openings above and the water level was constantly rising. The only dry section of the room besides their platform was a high ring around the walls, on which a familiar face stood.

"Abis Mal!" Aladdin cried out as he dodged Sa'luk's swing. He drew his dagger from his belt and stabbed Sa'luk in the chest, then stared back up at the cowardly man while he had a moment's reprieve. "Get down here and fight like a man!"

"I'd rather not," Abis Mal said with a shaking voice.

"Why do you prattle on in the middle of battle?" Sa'luk asked Aladdin. He glanced up, laying eyes on Abis Mal—and more importantly what Abis Mal held. His eyes widened. "The Hand of Midas! The legends are true!"

"It's mine!" Abis Mal cried, holding it closer to his chest. "You can't have it, it's mine!"

"You do not deserve it!" Sa'luk stretched his hands outward and the wall rumbled. The stone Abis Mal stood on collapsed, dropping the little man and his treasure into the water. Following that, a stone platform erupted out from the bottom of the water and knocked Abis Mal up into the air. Sa'luk caught him by the fabric of his clothes and grinned. "Hand over the Hand."

"No!"

"I do not have time to argue!" Sa'luk broke the Hand of Midas free of Abis Mal's grasp, clutching as its golden fingers with a triumphant laugh.

"Give that back!" Abis Mal cried, snagging the Hand's thumb. The two fought over it in a tug-of-war, pulling back and forth and shouting obscenities at each other. Xion moved forward to attack while they were distracted, but Aladdin's hand on her shoulder held her back. He pointed at the two of them and Xion's eyes widened in horror. A moment later, Abis Mal and Sa'luk realized their mistake. Gold was slowly creeping up their bodies, starting form their hands and already at their shoulders. The tug-of-war shifted into shoving the Hand to the other, but already their fate had been decided.

Two gold statues fell into the water, looks of pure horror eternally on their faces. Aladdin, Xion, and Sora watched in silent shock as the depths claimed them.

And then the wall exploded.

The water level dropped as it poured out of its newfound exit, but they were not clear of danger. A large six-armed figure burst through the opening even as the water drained, and was followed by four familiar faces. The Heartless that Cassim, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy looked like it had seen better days; but even with scars marking its body and sluggish movements slowing its attacks, the Heartless evidently it still had some fight in it. It swung one of its massive blades down on Sora, who was frozen in shock at its appearance and only saved by a well-timed tackle from Kairi.

"Kairi!" Sora gasped out. She was marked with burns, scratches, and bruises. The other three didn't look much better. "Why haven't you used a Cure spell yet?"

"Because-" Kairi glanced back at the Heartless. "Look out!" She grabbed Sora tightly and rolled out of the way, avoiding another swing from its sword. The two climbed up to their feet and Sora shook his head.

"Are you out of magic power? Here, let me." He raised his hand up, expecting the green glow to manifest around Kairi. Nothing happened.

Cassim's voice broke over the chaos. "The creature blocks all attempts at sorcery! We must break the orbs in its lower hands!" His scimitar slashed across one of the orbs in question, an object that looked to be made of some material halfway between glass and smoke.

Xion tested Cassim's claim by trying to strike the Heartless with a Pearl spell, but like Sora's Cure nothing happened. Not even a spark. "It looks like he's right."

"I don't have a weapon," Al pointed out as he jumped out of the way of the Heartless. "So I'll just keep an eye on Donald and Kairi until those things are gone."

Sora dug in his pockets and pulled out two ethers, one of which he handed to Kairi and the other he tossed at Aladdin, who in turn handed it to Donald. Then he charged forward with Xion, and two Keyblade struck the left-hand orb while Goofy and Cassim dealt with the right-hand one. The Heartless turned and swept its two swords low to the ground, forcing the attacks to stop as they jumped over the swings. While Xion didn't see it happen – she was too focused on not getting her body cut in half – a loud "YAAA-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!" told her that Goofy had been knocked away. In response, she tossed her Keyblade at Cassim's orb, the Strike Raid hitting it hard just as he did and shattering it. When Two Become One boomeranged back to her, Xion spun on her heal and dug its spiked 'teeth' into the orb's side. Sora jabbed his Kingdom Key forward, piercing it dead-on. Their orb shattered as well; it seemed the others had already done most of the work without them.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end. The Heartless roared and jumped away, shifting its body into a meditative stance as a translucent golden sphere wrapped around its body. Xion charged forward and swung at the sphere with all her might, but it felt like she was just hitting a brick wall. As the rebound knocked her back, Cassim caught her and shook his head.

"It's your friends' turn now."

Bolts of lightning rained down from above as Kairi and Donald, freed from the Silence effect, cast Thunder spell after Thunder spell. Sora, following their lead, sent lightning surging through his Keyblade and moved forward with Aero boosting his speed. With every slash he pun on a dime and attacked from a different direction, unleashing a Thunder-powered Sonic Blade.

The Heartless wasn't inactive, however. Orbs of fire manifested in the air and explosions erupted from the ground, forcing the electric onslaught to halt for the moment as everyone worked their way around the Heartless's magical attacks. And Cassim, for all his skill as a thief and a fighter, was still an aging man. One of the explosions caught him by surprise and knocked him back, far away from the center of the room. He slammed hard into a stone pillar and fell with a painful-sounding _thump_ to the ground.

"Dad!" Aladdin called.

Cassim struggled to his feet. "Don't worry about me. Take care of that creature, Aladdin!" Cassim tossed his scimitar, which sailed through the air at his boy. Aladdin jumped up and caught it by the hilt, then glanced from it to Cassim. "I believe in you."

The lightning strikes finally did their work and the Heartless's shield shattered. Aladdin gave one final look at Cassim and then gripped the sword tightly. He ran forward, jumped up onto the Heartless's foot, dodged a swing of its massive swords, and grabbed its upper right arm. Pulling himself up like with the ledge from earlier, Aladdin jumped from the shoulder and let out a battle cry. Cassim's sword sliced cleanly through the Heartless's head, and as Aladdin landed on the wet stone floor it exploded into darkness.

**x-x-x**

Despite all that had happened, Cassim did not end up attending Aladdin's. He was still a wanted man in Agrabah, and showing his face would mean execution for sure… But that didn't mean he didn't go, he just didn't make a public appearance.

His boy truly was born under a lucky star. From street rat to prince, and with such amazing and friends, Aladdin had grown into a fine young man. Wiping a tear from his eye, Cassim pulled up his mask and made his way through the palace's shadows to where his horse was waiting beyond the gates.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Cassim turned around. It wasn't Aladdin or a guard that spoke, but instead a familiar red parrot hovering in the air. "Iago?"

"You sure put us through a lot of trouble, you know." Iago landed on Cassim's shoulder and crossed his arms. "I figure I should…y'know…keep an eye on you, so you don't get anyone else in trouble."

Cassim smiled. "You're free to join me, Iago."

"Th-That's not what I said!"

Cassim laughed and jumped from the palace walls, landing on his horse and cutting the rope that way tying it to a post. As the two of them moved through the midnight streets, empty as the city attended the royal wedding, a tune rose up from the bazaar.

"_So it goes, short and sweet  
__They were wed down the street  
__May their marriage be truly blessed"_

_"Happy end to the tale  
__And tomorrow's a sale  
__So I'd better go home and rest!"_

The singer was a short little man dressed in blue robes and wearing an oversized turban. He waved Cassim down and ran over to him, showing his wares while still singing his merry song.

"_Here's a kiss and a hug  
__Sure you don't need a rug?  
__I assure you, the price is right"_

Cassim shook his head continued past the peddler's stall, but the peddler was no less joyful. As he left the gates of Agrabah and entered into the desert, his horse moving from a trot to a gallop, the winds carried the song.

"_Well, salaam, worthy friend  
__Come back soon, that's the end!"_

Cassim's reached the top of a hill of sand and the horse reared up on its hind legs, letting out a loud neigh into the night. In the beautiful starry sky above Cassim watched a red and yellow vessel streak by, heading off to explore other worlds far beyond. But he did not need to go with them; he had a wide world of his own right here.

"_'Til another Arabian Niiiight!"_


	18. Not Quite Radiant

**Chapter 18: Not Quite Radiant**

It had been a few days since Agrabah and things had once again returned to routine aboard the _Highwind_. Time was spent cooking, cleaning, helping Jiminy fill in the journal, or helping Donald navigate. But as time went on and they performed those same actions day in and day out, Xion found herself growing anxious; and it didn't help that while the ship had some room it still wasn't all that large.

As for Xion, she didn't want to just sit around forever and wanted to contribute more beyond what was asked of her, if only for the sake of doing something beyond wasting time in her room. Unfortunately the day she had taken it upon herself to make dinner for everyone did not go well, and she ended up on the receiving end of a very angry and very spaghetti-covered Donald's incomprehensible shouts. He stomped off after that, and at Goofy's questioning he shouted that they were having leftovers for dinner.

Ultimately the source of the problem was that they really didn't have anywhere to go. Wandering aimlessly wouldn't get them any closer to finding Riku and they didn't have any leads on his whereabouts.

Or rather, that's what Xion thought.

It was on the fifth day inside the Gummi ship that their course was set. Xion sat in a seat in the cockpit next to Donald (who had calmed down since the spaghetti incident), helping him map out where they had been so far while the ship floated along slowly on autopilot. Her right foot was bouncing impatiently against the tile floor as the stylus in her hands went over the digital map, marking locations of new worlds they had seen in the distance. Sora and Kairi, meanwhile, were watching out the window ready to take the controls at a moment's notice if something jumped in front of the ship.

Things were rather quiet overall. The only sound was the light scratching of pen on paper as Jiminy jotted notes down in his journal. It was an almost serene peace, and Xion would have welcomed it if it weren't for the aforementioned impatience. She marked another world on the map and glanced over to Donald, who was muttering under his breath as he flicked switches and pressed buttons on the dashboard. When this had started Donald had said he'd help her with the charts, but then the controls had distracted him and he hadn't looked up since.

"Are these lights supposed to be blinking?" Donald asking, pulling Xion's attention away from her work. She glanced up at him and looked to the light he was pointing at, which was flashing red.

"I'm not sure," she said with a shake of her head. "Aren't you the pilot? You should know."

"But it's not something that's happened before…" Donald frowned and turned to another area of the dashboard. He pressed a few more buttons and flipped one more switch, causing static to flare from the speakers hanging above them.

"Donald? What's up?" A high-pitched voice asked from the other end. Dale had answered Donald's radio call.

"Dale, can I talk to Chip? There's a weird light flashing here-" There was a scuffling sound on the other end. Xion figured Dale was probably moving away so Chip could come in. A moment later an even higher voice spoke up.

"What's it like, Donald?"

"Well, uh…" Donald laughed and turned to the flashing light. "It's red and blinking?"

"How often does it flash?"

"Um…" Donald trailed off, watching the light carefully. Kairi and Sora looked up from their jobs watching for anything in the ship's path and listened in to the conversation. Donald counted every blink under his breath. "Once every two seconds?"

There was incomprehensible gibbering on the other end; Chip and Dale speaking quickly to each other, if Xion had to guess. A moment later Dale spoke up. "Which light is it, again?"

"It says Navi-G under the light. I guess like the pieces we gathered on our first adventure?" Xion looked to the light one more time. Sure enough, it was labeled as being for Navigation Gummis. Well that wasn't a good sign. The chipmunks spoke a bit more amongst themselves.

"Well," Chip began, "we really can't do anything without seeing it. Why don't you come back to Disney Castle for now?"

"We've barely been out," Kairi said, speaking up for the first time.

"If somethin' is wrong with the ship, then ya don't want to be in it!" Dale warned.

"Okay, then we're going back home!" Donald moved Kairi and Sora aside and sat down at the ship's controls. Xion shrugged and put the stylus in her hands away, turning off the world map for the time being. "Everyone fasten in, we're far from Disney Castle so I'm gonna use the Warp Drive."

"Wait!" Chip and Dale screamed. "Donald, if the Navi-G piece is broken then the Warp Drive-"

Too late. Donald's hand wrapped tightly around the lever and he pulled down. Purple lights lit up outside the _Highwind_ and generated a swirling mass of energy in space in front of them. The vortex began drawing them in…and the power began surging. Chip and Dale's shouts of protests were cut off as the radio went dead, the lights flared brightly and then dimmed, circulating between blinding them with pure white light and utter darkness.

"What's going on?" Sora's voice was laced with a nervous concern.

"Does this usually happen?" Kairi asked, speaking loudly to be heard above the surging sound of electricity coursing through the ship.

"Say, uh, fellers," Goofy said, walking in with an uncooked bag of popcorn, "the power's dyin'—whoa!"

Xion felt herself stretch between two points as the vortex suddenly pulled on the ship, like her heart was being tugged away while at the same time her body was rooted down by some immovable force. An instant later the odd sensation broke as she snapped back into normalcy, only for the _Highwind_ to suddenly surge forward at maximum speed and dive right into the vortex.

"YAAA-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!"

A clatter of sounds out the door told Xion that Goofy had been sent flying down the corridor and crashed hard into something. The cockpit was filled with a symphony of horrified screams as the lights continued malfunctioning, and Xion witnessed Donald get electrocuted when he tried to get a grip on the controls. The windows outside were a blur of purple, green, and gold streaks and the electricity sound grew ever stronger.

Then it all stopped without warning and Xion was flung from her seat onto the cold tile floor. The light bulbs up above finally reached their limit and exploded, sending tiny shards of glass raining down on them. As the orange emergency lights lining the floor came on Xion climbed up to her feet, careful to avoid the glass, and glanced around. Sora and Kairi had their arms wrapped around each other protectively and were huddled against the wall, Donald sat in the pilot's seat with his hands charred and smoking, and Jiminy's pen had snapped in half as he was knocked all around the room. The only sound was the soft static coming from the radio.

"Gawrsh, what was that?" Goofy came back into the room, rubbing a bruise forming on his head.

"Donald used the Warp Drive even though something's wrong with the Navigation Gummi." Xion picked up Jiminy in her palms as he fixed his hat.

Donald let out a sound halfway between a grumble and a sigh and flicked the radio switch off and on. "It's broken."

Kairi stood up, breaking herself away from Sora as she did so. "So…where are we now? Where did the jump take us?"

Jiminy scratched his head. "Well, I reckon that we could be anywhere in the universe. Why don't we get to work figurin' out where we are?"

"How?" Donald snapped. "No power means no map."

"Well, we just gotta look with our eyes then!"

Xion nodded silently and moved to the window, Jiminy jumping up onto her shoulder as she did so. It was almost totally empty out there, at least on her side; distant worlds shimmered as stars in the sky, but they were way too far to reasonably get to. The blue and green colors outside made Xion queasy after going through such a bumpy ride, and she had to look away.

"You see anything, Xion?" Jiminy asked her, standing on the tips of his toes to get a good look out the window.

"Nothing." Xion glanced once more out the window just to make sure, but there wasn't any nearby world. She turned to see Donald messing with the dead controls while Goofy watched over his shoulder, and across the room Sora and Kairi were looking out the opposite window. The ship rotated slowly in the vast emptiness, turning ever so slightly as the momentum from the Warp Drive wore off. Then it turned just enough, finally putting a world into sight out of Sora and Kairi's window.

"I see something!" Sora shouted, planting his hands on the window and pressing his face closer. While he wasn't facing Xion, she saw his reflection in the glass grin.

"It's Hollow Bastion!" Kairi exclaimed happily.

Those words pulled everyone else to the window like a magnet, the six of them squeezing together to all look outside and confirm what those two saw. Donald, too short to see over the window, shoved his way past Goofy and pulled himself up onto the window sill, only to lose his grip and tumble onto his back. The ship continued to turn, finally putting the world down below into perfect view.

It was indeed Hollow Bastion, though to Xion's dismay it didn't seem much more repaired than it did in her last visit; although given the distance, there could be smaller details she couldn't see. But the town looked larger, at least, and the castle didn't have as many massive cranes surrounding it. Actually, though, it gave off an ominous feeling; the same sort of feeling it gave off in Sora's memories of his first visit. And that's when she remembered: Braig had taken the castle as his base of operations. Well, with that preoccupying them it was no wonder the town hadn't improved much.

"Gawrsh, we sure were lucky to wind up here, huh?" Goofy said with a laugh.

Donald crossed his arms. "I guess so, but it doesn't do us much good. Nothing is working so we can't get down there."

"And whose fault is _that?_" Sora asked.

"Bah!"

Xion frowned in thought. How to get a dead vehicle up and running again? Could they jolt it awake with a Thunder spell? No, the way to the engine was from the outside… That was a design flaw if she ever saw one; hindsight is 20/20. What else… A memory nagged at Xion, taunting her just out of reach. A day in Twilight Town with Hayner, at the lot behind the school. What was it, what was it…?

Ah.

"Donald, are their power cords running underneath the dashboard?"

"Huh?" Donald glanced at Xion and then at the controls. "Uh…I think so. Why?"

Yes, this could work! Xion helped Jiminy off of her shoulder and onto Sora's, then moved over to the dashboard and kneeled down to investigate the bottom. Sure enough, there was a small compartment under the piloting controls that held them. "I think I can give the ship a jump start in power. Not much, but enough to get us to Hollow Bastion."

Donald frowned but backed up to give Xion room. Getting down onto her back, she slid under the dashboard. "How do you know how to do that?" Donald asked.

Xion grinned as she worked, opening up the compartment hanging above her and sifting through all the wires and cords. "Hayner took an auto repair class in school and showed me once. Well, I guess he never actually did…though I have memories that never…" Her eyes grew downcast and she looked back to the cords, trying to find the correct ones to connect together. "The point is I know how. Though I've never actually done it before, but I think…"

She trailed off because she had found two wires that, if she were right – and it was kind of hard to tell in this mess -, would work. Grabbing a piece of a shattered light bulb, Xion cut the two cords and then pieced their halves together. A blue spark jumped from one to the other and the lights above flickered on; they were dim to be sure, but they were on. "Got it!" Xion grinned as she climbed out and stood up.

Donald eyed the dim lights warily before sitting down in the pilot's seat. He slowly moved a finger to the ignition switch and flicked it, then braced himself for some explosion. Xion listened with bated breath. As a soft rumbling arose from the ship around them she let out a sigh of relief. Donald wrapped his fingers around the controls and turned the ship left. It moved.

"It works!" Donald exclaimed, looking over his shoulder at the others.

"Way to go, Xion!" Sora said happily, pumping a fist in the air. Xion blushed and rubbed the back of her head. She didn't do much, if anyone needed congratulations it was Hayner.

"Everyone strap in and get safe," Donald said. "I'm going to take this slow and steady. We'll go very carefully."

While everyone sat down somewhere safe (and cleaned off shards of glass from the seats before doing so), Jiminy hopped down from Sora's shoulder and found safety in one of his pockets. Goofy, for his part, had a bit of trouble with the seatbelt but eventually wrapped himself up tightly, if not necessarily _safely_. And as Donald said, the _Highwind_ moved very slowly on its descent to Hollow Bastion—even slower than it had been while on autopilot earlier. Xion nervously glanced to the hanging wires below the dashboard, worried that at any moment it would stop working. But the ship still chugged along, moving ever forward.

As they got closer, more details on the state of the city started to become apparent. The town had gotten some repair work done, though given the few months' time it hadn't really expanded that much. The bailey was more worked up as a gate to a large wall that now surrounded the entire town, which appeared to be rather hastily constructed as the stones making it up weren't all uniform. As the ship lowered they flew over a fountain area with several levels and jets of water streaming into the air, though some of the jets were broken and one of the levels was collapsed. But the most noticeable change to the city wasn't a new addition, but rather a lack of something.

"Where is everyone?" Sora wondered.

Indeed, the streets were empty, with not a soul to be seen. Xion's first thought was that the Heartless had taken the world as they had before, but there were none of them wandering around—and no Nobodies either, for that matter. And it wasn't totally devoid of life - for example, there was the occasional rat and Xion spotted a raven flying above them - but as for the townsfolk, nothing.

Donald carefully landed the _Highwind_ in the hangar, wincing as a rattling noise came off the back like something had fallen loose. When everything was settled, Donald slowly stood up, hesitant to release his hand "We better go find Cid. Hopefully he can fix this."

"I'd like to find _anybody_ right now," Kairi said.

Entering the marketplace proved that it wasn't just an illusion from above; the town really was completely empty. Xion watched a scrap of paper blow by in the wind from the weapons shop over the wall, where it fell into the ravines down below. Following it with some curiosity, Xion climbed up the new wall and glanced over the edge.

"The heartless and Nobodies aren't fighting here," Xion said with surprise. Indeed, there was no storm of black and white in the canyons and ravines outside Hollow Bastion. Her words pulled the others to examine the wall as well, an air of worry suffocating all of them.

"But why is town abandoned?" Donald asked. "And why build the walls?"

"That's what I'd like to find out." Xion climbed back down from the wall and moved up the stairs, heading towards Merlin's house. As she passed by Scrooge's shop, activity flickered to her right, just outside her vision. "Hello?" There was a flicker of light coming from inside.

"Did ya see somethin'?" Goofy asked.

"I think so…" She moved over to the shop and leaned over the counter, trying to see around the corner into the back. "Is anyone in here?" There were a few tense moments, and then…

"Xion, is that you?"

"Boys!" Donald cried, running up and jumping over the counter to land inside the shop. It took Xion a moment to understand that he was calling out to the voice, so did he mean-

"Unca Donald!" Three blurs of blue, green, and red ran out from their hiding place and tackled Donald to the ground, wrapping him in tight hugs. Huey, Dewey, and Louie then jumped off their uncle and stood in a row while Donald climbed back onto his feet.

"It isn't just Xion!" Huey said, jumping up and pointing outside. "Sora, Kairi, and Goofy are here too!"

"That's great!" Dewey and Louie chimed in. The three hurried over to the counter and unlocked something behind it, allowing a section to swing open and let the four of them inside.

Xion smiled at their enthusiasm, but of course there were more pressing matters at hand. Kairi crouched down to eye level with the triplets. "Do you three know where everyone is?"

"Uhh, Unca Scrooge is in the back."

"Not anymore I'm not," Scrooge said, walking up with a smile on his face. "Bless me bagpipes—Donald! It's good to see ye again, but ye've come at a rather bad time."

"What's going on, Mister McDuck?" Sora asked with crossed arms. "The town seems totally empty."

"Ach, it's those confounded Heartless. The town's defense system – Claymore, or whatever Cid calls it – is down for repairs, and no one is going out without it!"

Xion, Kairi, and Sora glanced at each other. "But… We didn't see any Heartless."

"Aye, that's just it! The other day all of 'em just up and vanished!" Scrooge whacked his cane against a crate. "Mark me words, they're plannin' somethin' big!"

Well that was certainly ominous, especially with Pete and Maleficent on the loose. They'd need to keep an eye out. For the time being, however, there were more pressing issues, like the ruined Gummi ship. And on that thought, Scrooge had mentioned Cid.

"Is Cid okay?" Xion asked.

Louie answered that question. "He still can't move around much, but he's out of bed at least. Still needs lost of rest though.

"He says he's been working on a new project but won't tell anyone what it is," Dewey added.

That was a relief. Last time she had seen him was just after the Battle of Hollow Bastion, when Xaldin's lances had pierced his body. It was so nice to have something go well for a change. That just went to show how good of a healer Aerith was, she supposed.

"Do you know if he's awake right now?" Donald asked. "We need to see him."

"Yes he is, Unca Donald. He's repairing the Claymore."

"Great! Then we'll-"

Scrooge stomped the tip of his cane against the floor. "No way, lad! I won't have any nephew o' mine out in the town without the defenses up. Ye and yer friends are not takin' one foot outside."

"But Mister McDuck," Kairi protested, "without Cid we can't repair our ship."

Scrooge smiled and Xion could swear his eye twinkled. "Well then, we'll just have to use the tunnel."

"Tunnel?"

"Aye." He turned to the three ducklings. "Boys, you watch the shop while I take these lads and lasses over to Merlin's. Can ye handle it?"

Huey saluted. "Yes sir, Unca Scrooge! The Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook has a section on protecting-"

"Aye, aye, the Guidebook. I'll leave ye to it, then." Scrooge turned to the back room and waved a hand over his shoulder, beckoning for the others to follow. "Come along. This tunnel was made by Merlin as a safety measure. And it didn't cost me a single munny!" In the back room he kneeled down and ran his hand along the floorboards, clutching an indentation. Tugging on it revealed a trapdoor with stairs underneath it, leading down into a well-lit tunnel.

"It connects to Merlin's house. No dilly-dallying then, come on!"

Scrooge marched down first, followed by Donald, then Goofy, and finally Sora, Kairi and Xion. The floor was smooth and carved from the same blue stone that was the foundation for most of the world. The walls were made of blue-grey stone bricks that fit together perfectly, without any gaps at all. Electric lamps appeared every few yards on both walls, illuminating the tunnel as they went. It also sloped downwards slightly, which made sense as the borough was lower in elevation than the market. At the end of a tunnel was an oak door lined with steel, which Scrooge knocked on three times in quick succession.

"Yeah?" came a voice from the other end.

"Yuffie, open up. We've got visitors."

"Fine, fine. But I'm not sure who could possibly be-" Locks clicked open as Yuffie spoke on the other side, and when she opened the door her eyes bulged out and her mouth hung open for a moment before forming into a grin. "Hey, you guys! Come in, it's so great to see you!"

"Hey, Yuffie," Sora said, resting his hands behind his head as he walked inside. "How have you been?"

"Great! It's been, what, two and a half months? And Xion! It's good to see you, too. We were all worried when these guys told us what happened."

Xion smiled at the enthusiastic girl. "Thanks. I'm fine now, though."

"I see that!"

While Sora and Yuffie continued to chat, Xion looked around at the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee's base. It was the same size as before, which meant it got rather cramped now with everyone inside. Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith sat at a table nearby drinking coffee while Merlin sipped on some tea. Cid, Leon, and Cissnei, meanwhile, were at the large computer which had diagrams and graphs of something Xion couldn't even begin to comprehend. She did see the name 'Claymore', though, so she figured that must have been the repairs on the defense system that Donald's nephews mentioned.

Cissnei was the first to notice them, walking away from the computer with a smile. "Well this is a pleasant surprise. What are you all doing here?" Donald let out a sheepish laugh.

"We kind of arrived by accident," Kairi explained. "Cid, can you help us repair the Gummi ship?"

"Why? What'd ya do to it?" Cid spun his chair to face them, and Xion winced. He certainly looked _better_ than he had when she last saw him, but given when she last saw him he was comatose and bleeding to death that wasn't saying much. A soft bulge under his shirt gave away that he was wearing bandages, and a lot of them. He smelled like Cure magic and medicine, too.

"Donald used the Warp Drive while the Navigation Gummi light was flashing," Sora said. "We were hoping you could fix that?"

"Donald did _what?_" Cid groaned and leaned back in his seat, removing the toothpick from his mouth. "Why do you kids trust him to fly that thing? Why do _I_ trust him to fly that thing?"

"Hey! I'm a good pilot!" Donald protested.

"Sure, but you're impulsive and don't think things through."

"Sounds like you're describing yourself, Cid," Yuffie teased with a toothy grin on her face.

"Heh, maybe." Cid nodded his head to the screen. "Yeah, I can help out, but we're a bit busy with this. The town's defenses are down for repairs and the Heartless could attack at any moment because of that."

Scrooge nodded. "Aye, that's what I told 'em."

"Actually," Xion began, "we noticed that the Heartless – and the Nobodies – were completely absent from town. What's up with that?"

"We don't know." That was Cloud, speaking up for the first time since they arrived. He leaned back in his chair, its front legs lifting up off the ground and its back tipping against the wall. "All of a sudden they just vanished, like they got the order to retreat. The Nobodies went back into the castle a little while later; unlike the Heartless, they don't have any interest in the townsfolk."

Leon spoke up to continue Cloud's story. "We were going to use this opportunity to attack the castle and take it back from Braig, but then something shut down the Claymores. We need to work on that and protect the people here before we can do anything else."

Cid slammed an angry fist on the keyboard. "And the hell of it is I can't figure out what's causin' it! The old loon there says he felt some kinda dark magic, but I'm sure it's just a normal, everyday bug—I just can't find it."

"_Old_ loon, you say?" Merlin replied. "Why, I know dark magic when I sense it! Some powerful caster is stalking about our streets and we should be out on the hunt for them-"

"Argue another time," Leon interrupted. He ran a head over his forehead and leaned against the wall. "So, Sora. I bet you're looking for your friend. Riku, right?"

Sora and Kairi's faces brightened. "Have you found him?!" they practically shouted.

Leon shut his eyes and shook his head, which lowered their moods considerably. "Sorry. I don't know anything, just like when you asked on your last visit. But…" He locked eyes with Xion. "If you found a way to save Xion, then I'm sure you'll find a way to save him from whatever trouble he's in."

"I guess so…"

Leon turned away from them and back to the computer. "Cid."

"Eh?" Cid looked up with an irritated glare, having only just gotten back to his work.

"Go work on repairing their ship. Cissnei can handle the repairs." Cid's mouth formed a thin line and he transferred his glare over to Cissnei, who looked between the two men before shrugging.

"Sure, I know how," she said.

Cid wasn't having that though. "You sayin' I can't do my job, Leon?"

Leon shook his head "I'm saying you're the only one who knows about Gummi ships, but not the only one who knows about computers."

Cid looked like he couldn't decide if he should take that as a compliment or not. "Alright, alright…" He stood up slowly and reached for a cane that Xion hadn't even noticed before. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my hangar. I can probably get some spare Gummi blocks from the _Shera_." He walked out the door with the cane, slamming it shut behind him.

"The _Shera_?" Goofy asked.

Yuffie waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Some ship he's making. He won't let anyone see it. So, what are you guys planning on doing while you wait for your ship to be repaired?"

Xion frowned. "That's a good question."

Scrooge smiled and stood up straight. "Well, I could always use a few good pairs of hands around me shop. The boys and I are using this lockdown as a chance to take inventory."

"And Cloud and I were just about to go out on patrol," Tifa chimed in from her seat.

Xion nodded and could see agreement on her friends' faces. A bit of downtime and a chance to stretch their legs would be really nice after spending so long cooped up aboard the _Highwind_.

"Okay, we'll help you guys out," Sora said. "Just point us where we need to go."


	19. Black Feathers

**Chapter 19: Black Feathers**

"That's it, Unca Donald. Over here!"

"No way, it goes here!"

Kairi laughed as Huey, Dewey, and Louie directed Donald back and forth and all over the back room of Scrooge's shop, stacking piles of potions and mountains of ethers into his hands and sending him around in circles. For her part she carried a decently sized box full of golden orbs that Scrooge called drive boosts, but she wasn't sure what they were for; they were certainly pretty, though. Goofy, meanwhile, was tangled up in a tent that he was trying to put back into its packaging.

"Unca Donald, the hi-potions go this way!"

"Uh-uh, Unca Scrooge said to put them with the elixirs!"

Donald groaned behind his strained smile as he moved to the next location, knowing full well that as soon as he reached it one of the triplets would change his mind and drop a few more items onto his pile before directing him somewhere else. Kairi set down her box of drive boosts next to others like it and moved over to Goofy, still having trouble with the tent.

"Need some help?" she asked while taking one of the rods in his hand.

Goofy nodded. "That'd be great, Kairi. Thanks!"

Kairi kneeled down next to Goofy and helped untangle him from the tent's thick fabric. She could hear Jiminy talking to Scrooge in his office while they work, helping him go over inventory while the rest of them moved things around out here. Kairi was glad to be of help, but she had to admit she was jealous of Sora and Xion. They had gone with Cloud and Tifa on a patrol of the town, both the rebuilt sections and the ruins; if there were any Heartless left, it'd be a good idea to have Keyblades.

Goofy, now untangled from the tent, stood up and held a hand out to help Kairi to her feet. "So, what do we do with this?" Kairi asked, looking at the mess of fabric and rods scattered on the floor. "Where did he want it again?"

Goofy scratched his head. "Well, Mister McDuck wanted all the tents stacked nice and tidy behind the counter where customers could see 'em."

Kairi glanced to her right, where unopened tents lined the wall from top to bottom. "Why does Scrooge need so many?" She picked up an empty box and a roll of tape from the floor and handed them to Goofy while she started gathering the tent's pieces up. "It's not like anyone's going camping."

"They're for the refugees comin' in," Louie said from atop his cardboard box perch. "For them to buy, I mean. Unca Scrooge says he can't make any munny if he just gives 'em away." He paused and then looked to his left with a mischievous grin. "No, Unca Donald! The power boosts go there, not the megalixirs!"

While Kairi silently chastised Scrooge's morals – seriously, there were so many tents, why not give them away if people need the shelter? – Donald grumbled at his nephew and picked up the large crate he had just set down, trying to replace it with another one without dropping both on the floor. It was an exercise in futility. Donald slipped up, dropping everything in his hands and scattering items and trinkets of all sorts all over the room. The ducklings grew quiet and wide-eyed, jumping down to help Donald up.

"We're sorry about that, Unca Donald!" Dewey said quickly, tugging on his soaking wet clothes. "At least the splashing potions healed the cuts from the glass, though!"

Donald was surprisingly quiet as he stood up and removed his hat, squeezing it and wringing it through his hands to get rid of the potions soaking through the fabric. Kairi had to say she was impressed, she expected him to snap at any moment.

"Boys…" Donald said after a moment, closing his eyes and placing his hat back on his head.

"Yes, Unca Donald?" The three spoke in unison, glancing down at the ground and holding their hands behind their backs.

Donald's momentary serenity was gone, his smile falling into a grimace and his face growing red as he began one of his famous temper tantrums. He jumped up and down, screaming incomprehensibly and gesturing at the boys, the door to Scrooge's office, and the mess at his feet. Throughout his ranting Kairi also caught the words 'Gummi ship' and 'castle', so it seems that this was all his pent-up stress spilling out at once. The boys, eyes wide, wisely backed away from their uncle.

"Maybe we went too far," Huey said.

Meanwhile, the door to Scrooge's office slammed open and he marched outside with a look on his face that warned of a temper nearly as short as Donald's that was about to break. "Oh, pluck my pinfeathers! What's all the ruckus about- Ah!" Scrooge's eyes bulged almost comically as he spotted the mess, he pinched the bridge of his nose – er, beak – and sighed deeply, evidently trying to fight the urge to snap as his nephew had. "Donald, what happened here?"

Donald had calmed down slightly, but cast a glare over his shoulder at the boys before turning to Scrooge. "Uncle Scrooge, it wasn't my fault!"

"Wasn't yer fault? Donald, you were holding the dang things!"

Donald shook his head back and forth rapidly. "The boys-"

"Aye, I heard the boys as well." Scrooge slammed his cane on the wooden floor. "Now go get mops and brooms, all four of ye. And I won't take 'no' for an answer! Hop to it! This is comin' out of yer pay."

Kairi blinked in confusion. "Wait, you're paying us?"

Scrooge turned his head and grinned, changing from the stern manager of mere moments ago to a kindly old man. "Aye, a whole twenty munny to each of ye!" Well, maybe he didn't change _completely. _"Actually, lass-Kairi, isn't it? I'm terribly awful with names, ye have to forgive me."

"No, that's right."

"Wonderful!" Scrooge walked over to her and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small green chip with gold circuit lines running across it. "Can ye go deliver this to Cid up at the Gummi hangar? I have no idea what this confounded thing is for, but he asked that I deliver it to him." Kairi took the chip and held it up to the lamp hanging from the ceiling, examining the way the circuitry reflected the light. "I imagine it's probably for yer Gummi ship," Scrooge continued.

"Sure thing, Mister McDuck. I can give this to Cid." Kairi slipped the chip into her pocket, but then frowned. "Although I was going to help Goofy…"

Goofy shook his head and held up two of the metal support rods for the tent. "Don't worry about me Kairi. I got this in the bag." He moved forward slightly and promptly slipped on another rod lying on the ground, which knocked him onto his back and tangled him back up in the tent fabric all over again. While Goofy laughed and let out a soft "Woops," Kairi sighed and moved over to help him. Scrooge stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

"Dunnae worry about him, lass. I'll have Donald help out when he's done cleanin' up the mess."

Kairi glanced down to Goofy, who was laughing to himself as he climbed out of the tent - he had somehow managed to prop it up perfectly during his attempts to free himself – then turned back to Scrooge. "Okay. But I'll be back soon."

"Aye, I know ye will. Hurry off to Cid, then!"

With a quick wave goodbye over her shoulder, Kairi made her way out the shop and into the marketplace, passing the four grumbling ducks carrying mops and brooms as she did so. In the couple of hours since she had been outside (having returned to Scrooge's from Merlin's through the tunnel), clouds had come in between the earth and the sun, shrouding Hollow Bastion in a dreary grey. Kairi couldn't help but glance at the castle as she moved toward the hangar. The dark sky seemed to make it even more ominous as it cast the half-constructed towers in shadow. She hurried the rest of the way to the hangar, no longer feeling safe outdoors.

The inside of the hangar was a storm of sounds and heat as machines tore apart the _Highwind_. From her position in the doorway Kairi could see right through Xion's room into Donald and Goofy's, and all the way to the small kitchen. Cid had been busy—or rather, the machinery had. Cid himself stood against the wall watching the cranes and robotic hands work as he leaned against his cane. He noticed her come in and tried to smile, but the expression on his face made Kairi laugh; it looked like he wasn't used to it.

"What are you doing here?" Cid's tone as he asked the question was rough, though not unkind. Kairi had come to learn that that was just the way he spoke. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the chip, handing it over to him.

"Mister McDuck said you asked for this."

"Ah." Cid rubbed his chin while examining the chip. "Yup, this should do it. This will be a good replacement for a key part of the power grid; Donald completely totaled the thing. I had to go digging through about thirty different scrapped ships to repair the rest. Most of those were supposed to go to my _Shera_, but them's the breaks I suppose."

"Uh huh…" Kairi _really_ didn't know anything about machines, so that was all over her head. She had a feeling, though, that Cid expected her to ask about the _Shera_ so he could start talking about it—he seemed like that type of guy. So instead, she asked a question that had been on her mind for the last several hours. "So when do you think the patrol will be back?"

"Well…" Cid scratched the side of his cheek in thought, clearly not expecting her to change the topic like that. "Right about now they're probably in the slums, I figure."

Kairi's brow furrowed. "The slums?" That didn't fit her picture of Radiant Garden much at all. Hadn't it been a paradise with flowers and clear blue water everywhere?

"Sure." Cid moved past her and through the doorway, out into the marketplace. He took a deep, long breath on his cigarette – wait, hadn't he been using a toothpick at Merlin's? Did Aerith know he was smoking? – and then exhaled the smoke into the dreary air. "Radiant Garden may've been the city of light, but every light has its shadow. Most of us livin' in the fancy parts of town tried to ignore the slums, but ignorin' somethin' doesn't mean it ain't there." Cid frowned and looked out into the distance toward a particularly ruined section of town that sat under the castle's shadow.

The wind picked up and Kairi brought a hand to her face to keep her hair out of her eyes. In the distance, a bird crowed. Cid placed the cigarette back in his mouth and turned around, hobbling on his cane as he returned inside the hangar.

"If I remember right, that's where Cloud met the person who saved his life."

**x-x-x**

"Looks like rain," Tifa said, holding a hand out in front of her as if expecting a raindrop to fall into her palm any second. Xion glanced up at the cloudy sky and shivered as a chilly breeze blew by, causing howls as it passed through the cold, empty ruins of stone buildings. She really envied Sora's jacket going over his shoulders right now.

They had traveled through ruins of all sorts during the last few hours on this patrol, but the buildings in this new area were far creepier for some reason. Rusted halves of metal rods with jagged tips sat long forgotten in pools of water and oil, while the dirt-coated ground was barely visible under tons of trash and debris. Tifa and Cloud had marched ahead of Xion and Sora without fail when they initially set out, but when they arrived in this district Tifa had grown hesitant and Cloud had slowed down considerably. And Tifa had also been rather open with Xion and Sora, chatting with them regularly, but now her lips were sealed.

Just what was this place that it disturbed them so much?

Sora stepped into a puddle of black water and accidentally splashed some near them. Cloud spun around immediately, watching Sora's wet shoe with wary eyes.

"Be careful!" he shouted; well, actually, he didn't shout. But he raised his voice above a monotone, and that was close enough for him. Sora winced back, unsure of what he had done wrong. Xion shrugged helplessly. She had no idea either.

Tifa frowned and marched up to cloud, putting her hands on her hips and standing in front of him. "Cloud, you didn't have to snap like that! Sora wasn't watching where he was going. What's your problem, anyway? I know the slums aren't exactly your favorite place in the world, but-"

"Check what Sora stepped in again, Tifa," Cloud said calmly. Tifa stopped chastising Cloud and, curious, glanced over his shoulder at the black puddle. Her skin paled and her gaze snapped over to Sora's shoe—wait, no, to the exposed skin right above his shoe. Sora looked down at himself and tapped his feet on the ground awkwardly. Xion looked at his ankle, as Tifa was. She couldn't see anything strange.

"He didn't get wet, Cloud," Tifa said at last. Xion double-checked; nope, only his shoe was wet, not his skin. So, what, was there something in the water?

"He almost did. This place is dangerous enough as it is with all the crumbling buildings and rusted metal. I'm not risking any of us catching geostigma." He glanced over his shoulder, blue eyes drilling holes into Xion and Sora. "Stay out of any black puddles. They're not water."

Sora glanced behind him at the puddle before nodding, though confusion was still evident on his face. "Uh, sure."

Cloud turned back around and said no more, continuing on through the ruins as if nothing had happened. Xion wasn't about to let it go, though, and walked up beside Tifa with a new goal: information.

"So, what's this geostigma thing?" Sora was beside Xion as well. He wanted to know too. Tifa frowned and glanced at Cloud for a moment, as if wondering if he'd want her to tell them. When she looked away her shoulders drooped ever so slightly.

"This area we're in was once Radiant Garden's slums," she explained quietly. "It used to be just another district of the city, but one day a disease called geostigma sprang up—they think it arrived through an infected water supply. The symptoms included weakness, hallucinations, and open sores that ooze a black sludge-like liquid. It had a one hundred percent morality rate; _everyone_ who contracted geostigma died." Xion glanced around them at the puddles and felt her blood run cold. There were _so many_ of them. "The doctors had no idea how to combat geostigma so eventually the district was put under quarantine, with no one allowed in or out. After that it sort of…wasted away, forgotten by the rest of Radiant Garden."

"How could Ansem allow that?" Sora asked, horrified.

"This was early into Ansem the Wise's rule, when he was still a young man," Cloud replied. He had been listening, then. "The head of the government's medical division at the time, a man named Hojo, apparently kept it a secret from him, saying that he could handle it. Ansem probably never found out in his entire life. He never left the castle, really." His eyes grew even more downcast. "Ansem was a good man to be sure, but he was blind. He should have seen a lot of things coming before they happened."

"So," Xion asked, "if it always killed the people it infected, how did you guys escape? I mean, I'm assuming it lasted for a few generations if the area became a slum."

"We didn't live in the slums." Tifa's reply surprised Xion. Given their reactions and the way Cloud clearly knew where he was going, she had figured they had. "And because of the quarantine it never entered any other districts."

"But then how do you guys know this place so well?"

"Cloud does, not me," Tifa admitted. She looked out in front of them, where Xion could see a tall stone building rising above the ruins. "And you're about to see why."

Compared to everything else, it was remarkably unharmed; sure the roof was collapsed and several windows were shattered, but at least Xion could tell what it was supposed to be: a church. Not as large as Notre Dame, but decently sized. Its white stone, though stained with years of dirt, stood out among the black and grey ruins around it. What windows weren't shattered were grimy to the point they could no longer be called windows, and one of the two steeples atop the church was completely missing, torn off by some unseen force. But still the church gave off a sense of hope for being the only relatively intact building for miles around. Cloud walked up to one of the wooden doors, rotting and chipped, and pulled it open without too much trouble.

The inside wasn't quite as well preserved as the outside, however. Wooden benches lay broken and out of place as they walked down the aisle, ages-old floorboards creaking under them. The stone pillars holding up the ceiling were stained with grime and dirt, and chipping away in places. Cloth tapestries hanging from the walls, once beautiful, were torn and barely fluttered in the cold breeze. Planks of wood that had fallen from the destroy ceiling littered the ground and, much to Xion's surprise, lay in a small garden of yellow and green flowers that despite all odds still sprouted from the earth.

Xion kneeled down and picked one of the flowers, its yellow petals covered in dew that caused it to glisten in the light coming in through the broken ceiling.

Tifa kneeled down beside Xion and ran a flower's petal between her fingers, though she didn't pick it. "This is the only place in the whole district where flowers still grow."

"I guess even a quarantined slum is still part of Radiant Garden," Sora said.

Cloud moved past the flowers, gently walking around them rather than over them as she would have expected from him, and stopped at the altar against the wall. Pierced into the rotting wood floor in front of the altar was a sword with a long, thin blade. Its curved hand guard looked like it had once been gold and the hilt was blue. The sword was marked with a decade of wear, tear, and rust.

Cloud ran a hand over the once-vibrant hand guard and gripped the hilt softly before his arms fell limply to his side. Engraved on a copper plaque next to the sword were three short lines:

"_Embrace your dreams.  
__If you want to be a hero,  
__you need to have dreams."_

"Tifa, can you give me a few minutes?" Cloud's voice was quieter than normal, if that was even possible.

"Of course." Tifa stood up from the garden and motioned for Xion and Sora to follow. "We'll be right outside, Cloud. Take as much time as you need."

"Wait, we're going already?" Sora asked. "What happened to seeing why Cloud knows this place so well? What's with the sword?"

"Those questions are ones only Cloud can answer. Even I don't know the whole story. Come on."

Xion frowned and looked over her shoulder at Cloud. His shoulders were shaking. Was he crying? Shaking her head, she followed Tifa and Sora outside, her footsteps leaving hollow echoes in the ruined church.

The weather hadn't improved during the few minutes they were inside. Not that Xion was expecting it to, though; they really weren't in there for very long at all. Stepping carefully over a puddle of what she now knew was geostigma sludge, Xion moved over to a relatively clean stone block and sat down. Sora joined her a moment later while Tifa leaned against the outer wall of the church, glancing inside every few minutes.

"What do you think that was all about?" Sora asked. Xion glanced over to him and he motioned to the door of the church, where they could still see Cloud standing in front of the sword. He hadn't budged.

"It reminded me of a grave," Xion said with a small shrug. The whole thing had a very melancholy atmosphere surrounding it, which was only strengthened by the grey cloud-covered sky. "I wonder what happened."

"Cloud and Tifa didn't grow up in the slums," Sora reminded her. "So I wonder how they knew whoever it was?" That was a good question, and one that she had been asking as well. Actually, though, Tifa didn't seem to know him; she had said that some questions only Cloud could answer. Xion called some of Sora's memories to the front of her mind, recalling when he had first met Cloud at the Olympus Coliseum. He had been so broody then; not that he wasn't broody now, but he had been even more so back then. Had whatever happened here been why?

"I wonder what happened…" Sora said softly.

"His name was Zack."

"Huh?"

Tifa still leaned against the wall of the church, her hands behind her back and her eyes locked firmly on the ground. But she had been listening to their conversation and spoken up, finally giving some sort of context to the sword and the church.

"That's pretty much all Cloud has told me. The sword's owner, his name was Zack."

"So you weren't there for it, then?" Xion asked.

Tifa shook her head. "Before the Heartless arrived, Cloud went missing—for months. We couldn't find him anywhere. Next time I saw him was on the night Maleficent attacked, while searching for survivors to take on Cid's ship. That's when I met Aerith. She was caring for him inside the church, and he was crying over that sword." She looked up at the sky. "For years I never knew the full story. I still don't. But Aerith told me one day that the owner of the sword was named Zack."

Xion felt a sharp but brief pain in her heart when the name left Tifa's lips, like someone had jabbed her with a needle. But the pain left as swiftly as it came, and Xion couldn't figure out what had caused it. She certainly didn't know anybody by that name, and sifting through Sora's memories she knew that neither did he. Yet still there was a longing nostalgia in her heart. And Roxas hadn't been born yet when Radiant Garden fell, so of the people connected to her heart that left-

Cloud emerged from the church, breaking Xion out of her thoughts. He ran a hand over his face and grimaced. "Humid out here," he said. Liar.

"Are you ready to keep going, Cloud?" Tifa asked with concern. "We're almost done with patrol, but you can go back to Merlin's if you want. We can finish it on our own.

"No, let's keep going." Cloud shook his head and moved forward, adjusting the large sword on his back to get it more comfortable. Xion and Sora gave each other concerned glances before standing up from their seat on the stone block. If Cloud didn't tell Tifa about any of this for years, then they weren't going to get answers any time soon either.

"So where next?" Xion asked, hoping to alleviate the depressed looks of their two older companions by changing the subject.

Tifa pointed east. "We'll finish up in the slums and then head to Winhill. That's the neighborhood where Leon was born, though he grew up in the main part of town with the rest of us. After that we should be done."

Cloud was already walking before Tifa finished speaking. "There aren't any Heartless here and there probably won't be in Winhill. Let's finish up and go back home." However, despite his stated intent, the next thin Xion knew Cloud was standing in a defensive position with his sword in his hands and his eyes trained on something in the air. "He's here."

"Cloud?" Tifa stood with her fists up and ready to punch someone at a moment's notice. Xion and Sora called on their Keyblades and stood back to back, keeping their eyes on the shadows in case any Heartless appeared. "Who is it? Who's here?" she asked.

Cloud reached up and caught the object he had seen – whatever it was it was black, so it didn't stand out against the ruins - in his grasp, holding so tight that his knuckles must have been turning white beneath his gloves. Then he tossed it aside, not watching as it fell to the ground and settled next to a puddle of geostigma goop.

"Cloud, can you tell us what's going on?" Sora asked while scanning the ruined buildings. "Is it Braig? Heartless? What's going on?"

"I know you can hear me!" Cloud shouted into the empty ruins. "Come out and fight me! Stop hiding!" He swung his sword through the air to emphasize his words. "Sephiroth! _Face me, Sephiroth!_"

Tifa's eyes grew wide and her face paled. She looked around frantically, much more scared than she was before. Xion looked to the object that Cloud had snatched from the air and then tossed to the ground: a black feather. What was its significance?

"Sephi-who?" Sora asked.

A bird's cry echoed around them. Xion glanced up to see a raven leap off a broken stone tower, evidently scared off by Cloud's shouting. Black feathers fell from its wings as it flew away in the direction of the castle, causing them to float down on the area. Tifa saw the raven, too. Immediately she jumped into action, wrapping her arms around Cloud's to stop his swinging.

"Cloud, it's just a raven! It's just a bird! It isn't Sephiroth, he's not here!"

Cloud's swings slowed and his movements became sluggish, but he didn't stop. Xion dismissed her Keyblade and picked up the crumpled feather, and then jumped up and grabbed another one from the air. While Tifa fought to keep Cloud from chopping their heads off, Xion ran in front of him and held the two feathers up.

"Cloud, look! It's the same as the one that fell off the bird, see? This 'Sephiroth' guy isn't here!" Cloud's bright blue eyes looked wild in the dreary darkness, but his movements finally came to a halt. Tifa hesitantly released her hold on his bicep and Cloud stabbed his sword into the ground and slumped down onto his knees, resting his forehead against the hilt.

"Just a raven…" He whispered so softly that Xion could barely hear it above the cold breeze. "Sephiroth isn't here… It was just a raven…"

Tifa placed a hand on his shoulder. "Cloud, let's cut the patrol early and go back to Merlin's house."

"Yeah. Okay."

Tifa helped Cloud to his feet and he returned his sword to its resting place on his back. Without another word he turned back the way they had come, moving away from the church and back down the several hour walk to the main part of town. Tifa wrapped an arm around him in a comforting half-hug as they continued down the path.

Xion lingered behind for a moment, though. She stared at the two feathers in her hands, one crushed and one pristine, before loosening her fingers and letting them flow away in the wind. They were pitch black, like the color of a Shadow. Xion was no expert on birds, but weren't ravens typically a blue-black color? Admittedly she had only seen a handful, and most of those she had seen were just inside the other Twilight Town.

"What was that about?" Xion looked up to see Sora standing next to her.

"I don't know." Xion shook her head honestly. That was so out of character for Cloud that she didn't have any rational explanation for it. "But both Cloud and Tifa look really freaked out about it. Let's not bring it up, I don't think they'd appreciate that."

Sora frowned and crossed his arms, but then he shrugged. "Sounds good to me. They'll tell us when they're up for it." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "Come on, let's go catch up to them."

And then suddenly, far in the distance, there came an unbelievably loud explosion. Xion and Sora exchanged horrified glances while Cloud and Tifa further down the road came to a halt.

"What was that?" Sora asked. Xion broke into a run, moving to the nearest, tallest pile of debris she could find. Climbing up it was no easy feet with the loose pieces, but eventually she pulled her way up and found safety on a relatively stable half of a car. Sora was right behind her, having an easier time of things with his gloves providing extra grip. "Xion, do you see anything?"

"I-I do." Neoshadows, Lance Soldiers, and Guardians crawled across rooftops while Bolt Towers and Angel Stars flew through the air with Tailbunkers higher above. Behemoths marched through the streets, crushing entire buildings with every heavy step. Darksides rose up high and towered above everything else, sweeping their clawed hands low as they struck at the city. And throughout it all Nobodies flowed from the castle in an endless swarm, weaving their way here and there among the hundreds of Heartless in the beginnings of a battle.

Hollow Bastion was under attack, and this time the Heartless weren't content to stay in the ravines and canyons.

**x-x-x**

Chaos was breaking out all across Hollow Bastion as Heartless rose from every shadow and crack, followed tirelessly by the disgusting white husks sent to defend the castle from the Heartless—the castle that was rightfully _hers._ Maleficent stood atop the new wall surrounding town with a pleased smile on her face. Next to her, Pete winced as the wall rumbled and small chunks of stone fell, but their perch was still stable.

"I-Is this what you were waiting for?" Pete asked.

"Indeed it was." Maleficent's grin widened and her bony fingers tightened around her staff. "I called the Heartless back from all across this world in preparation. And with my magic interfering with their petty security system and the Keyblade wielders off searching for their missing friend, nothing shall stand in our way!"

"Is that so?" Pete asked, backing up from a pair of Assassins that got too close while chasing after an Aerial Master. "And uh, any particular reason why we're standin' up here?"

"Why Pete, I thought you enjoyed a good show?" Maleficent waved her hand out over the city. "Can you not hear the symphony? The people of this world have become too complacent. They must come to learn who their true master is."

Out in the city, a Darkside's powerful fist crushed a mob of citizens who were trying to flee the chaos. However, as it stood up from the flurry of Shadows its attack had unleashed, a large Nobody – a Twilight Thorn, Maleficent thought they were called; how quaint – appeared out of thin air and crashed its body into the Darkside. The Darkside responded by slamming a fist into the Twilight Thorn's sorry excuse for a face, to which the Twilight Thorn countered by sending out black and white bolts of energy to the Darkside. The two titanic creatures continued their battle in the city as hundreds of smaller clashes between Heartless and Nobodies raged around them.

Pete stopped hiding from the shaking long enough to look at Maleficent. "So once we're done showin' the town what we're made of, we're gonna go attack the castle, right?"

"All in due time, Pete," she replied with that grin still on her face. "All in due time."

**x-x-x**

While all hell broke loose in the city below, Hollow Bastion's castle was as still and silent as ever—and as unprepared for an intruder as ever. True, Braig had set up Dusks and Snipers as guards among its many lifts, balconies, and corridors, but he had only ordered them into areas deemed important. And not everyone had similar ideas on importance.

In the silent and forgotten library of the castle, one of the tall windows shattered without warning. As golden shards of stained glass rained onto the floor, a figure stood up with smoke enveloping his body that faded away over the course of a few seconds. His skin was deathly pale and marked with scars, especially around the eyes and throat. He ran a hand through his slick black hair and adjusted the loose black shirt that exposed his chest—which was also scarred. Blinking his dark eyes and glancing at the dim lighting, his pale lips twisted into a frown.

"Dreadfully bright in here," he said with a dry hoarseness, as if his voice hadn't seen use in years. "Now…where do I begin?"

The man stepped over the remnants of the window he had destroyed and moved to the bookcase. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of books gathered in Hollow Bastion's legendary library, but throughout all the years he had spent here he had never actually set foot inside of it. He had no idea how it was organized. Still, everywhere has a place to begin. He made his way to the nearest shelf and pulled out a book a random. It was a dusty old tome titled _The Grimorum Arcanorum_; not what he was looking for, then. Placing the book back in its place, he fingered through its neighbors. _The Shepherd's Journal_, _Spells of Astoroth_,one simply labeled _3_… These were all books of ancient magic, hardly what he was looking for.

"So where are the scientific journals?" The man moved up the wooden staircase with creaking steps. He traveled to a new bookcase, one filled to the brim with journals rather than ancient tomes. Now this looked far more promising.

First on the agenda was a journal written by a man named Even. That was the name of the head scientist before Maleficent took over, wasn't it? Certainly he'd be the most logical choice to look at first. Flipping the book open to a random page, the man began reading.

"_Subject VII – Strife, age eleven, male – underwent the procedure to divide his heart into separate entities of darkness and light. Despite my predictions, the experiment did result in a new entity being born from Subject VII's darkness. However, the boy's heart collapsed after the darkness was forcibly torn from it and he's in a vegetative state—utterly useless. I will have Dilan toss him out into the slums so he does not take up valuable cell space, though the being born from the dark side of his heart will stay for further experiments."_

The apprentices' experiments with the heart, hm? Though interesting, that was not what he came here to look for. Returning Even's useless journal to its spot in the shelf, the man looked over the other options on the shelf in front of him. Even was too recent, so something further back would work better.

"Here we are. Professor Hojo? It certainly looks old enough."

"_If my hypothesis is correct, the disease – from here on referred to as geostigma – is born from the district's water supply. The aqueducts run near to the castle, where earlier hypotheses from men far more learned on the subject than I believe the heart of our world rests. I think prolonged exposure to that energy to be harmful to the human body, for you see…"_

He slammed the book shut. Ugh, completely irrelevant; and not at all interesting, either. The man returned the journal to its proper place and looked to the next one. It belonged to a man named Cid Lufaine – what a coincidence, Cid was also the name of that brutish engineer – and the pages were yellow and rough. It appeared to be at the very least a century old, and that was very promising indeed.

"…_and so it is I discovered that the human body is comprised of three components: the heart, which contains our memories and emotions, the soul, which give us life, and the body, which house the heart and soul. And so it seems that because of my research, the Bastion of our beloved Radiant Garden has tasked me with creating a superweapon to turn the tides in the war against Onrac. I do not know how I can be of help, but I will help the nation in any way I can."_

This certainly looked promising. With a smile growing on his lips, the man flipped to a later entry.

"_Through manipulation of the body and soul, it should be theoretically possible to create an artificial human. The heart should not be required in theory, but what is a person without a heart? I will include one for the sake of research, to see how a human being would react emotionally to coming into life already matured. Although I am not quite sure how this ties into the superweapon the Bastion has asked me to create."_

Closer and closer still. A superweapon was exactly the kind of upper hand the black-haired man was looking for. Pulling up a chair and sitting at the old oak table nearby, he turned to another entry.

"_Project Manikin continues unhindered. The subject is physically a perfect example of a fit adult male. Mentally he is an infant, but he shows great curiosity about learning everything he can, though on occasion during our lessons I catch him gazing longingly out the window. I will have to ask the Bastion if we can spend time in the gardens during our meetings together."_

Another few entries later:

"_I have largely been separated from the development of Project Manikin, save for the weekly checkups. During the most recent he told me of the rigorous battle training he is put through nearly every hour of the day, with little time for rest. Absolutely appalling! I know he is meant to be a weapon in the war, but no man can go on that long. He simply must be allowed outside. I need to talk to the heads of Project Manikin about this."_

He flipped absent-mindedly through the next few pages, as they were largely the same. Cid Lufaine met with the subject of this 'Project Manikin' every week for a physical checkup, though eventually that became every two weeks, and then every month. He was never allowed to even get near the military higher-ups, let alone ask them about letting the subject out for air. And at every checkup, the subject grew more and more depressed. Until at last, in the final journal entry, it happened:

"_I… I don't know what has happened; or rather, I do but do not know how to express it. My hands shake as I write on these pages. Just this morning I received a call from the Bastion that the subject of Project Manikin had committed suicide by stabbing himself through the heart. The man on the other end didn't seem terribly concerned and immediately tasked me with getting to work on creating a new artificial human, but how could I do that? A dear friend of mine was dead._

"_Despite protests from the guards, I made my way to the castle morgue where he lay still with a cloth over his corpse. There, while I was mourning the loss of a dear companion, he stirred. At first I thought I was seeing things, but no; he was definitely moving, and eventually he even sat up, the cloth falling down and revealing a brutal scar across his chest. But despite only stabbing himself that morning, the wound had healed completely save for the scarring. At first he didn't know where he was, but upon realization he glanced down at his hands and asked me in a shaking voice:_

_"'Will I never be free of this torment, Cid?'_

"_I did not have an answer. I still don't. News of his miraculous recovery spread quickly throughout the Bastion and soldiers came down to take him. Despite my protests my dear friend was taken from me yet again. A man I recognized as a General in the Garden's army approached me soon after and said that my role in Project Manikin was done. I am no longer necessary._

"_I fear I will never see my friend again. I can only pray that whatever experiments they perform on him, he will survive to one day see the beautiful blue skies of our Radiant Garden."_

"And they all lived happily ever after."

The black-haired man slammed the old book shut with a satisfied smirk on his face. He had found _exactly_ what he was looking for. Standing up and walking down the creaking wooden stairs, he slid the book inside his open shirt. Without a word he climbed up onto the sill of the shattered window he had come through, and as smoke began to rise from his pale skin he leaped out into the open air.

A pitch black feather fell to the earth.


	20. A Storm of Swords

**Chapter 20: A Storm of Swords**

It had all happened so fast.

Cissnei had been sitting at the computer in Merlin's house, working on getting the Claymores up and running again, when there was an incredibly loud explosion outside that caused everyone in the building to pause and grow silent. Before anyone could question what the noise was Merlin's house rocked violently from side to side, causing trinkets and objects of all sorts to fall from their spots and crash against the floor. Yuffie dived to save a book titled _Winnie the Pooh_ from being crushed under a falling shelf while Aerith stabilized a nearby bookcase. Leon helped Cissnei keep the machinery above the computer from falling, and Merlin's hands were full of all sorts of knick-knacks and souvenirs that had fallen from their perches. When the shaking stopped, everyone stood in stunned silence for several long moments.

"…An earthquake?" Yuffie asked at last, her voice squeaking a little from fear. Cissnei wasn't so sure, though; that explosion was _definitely_ not some quake. She opened her mouth to reply to Yuffie, but was cut off by another exploding sound—this one was much closer. Cissnei tensed up, and as her ears stopped ringing the house began to shake once more. There was a rhythmic pounding approaching them

"Merlin, Aerith, get away from the wall!" Cissnei heard Leon shout over the pounding sound; whatever it was, it was coming closer. The two complied, running from their positions at the far end of the large room over near him, Cissnei, and Yuffie. "Everybody _get down!_"

_You don't have to tell me twice_. Cissnei could tell that whatever was making that pounding was right upon them, so immediately she leaped out of her seat and tackled Yuffie, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Hey, let me go!"

"Shh!" Cissnei grabbed Yuffie's arms and pinned her to the floor, keeping her from getting back up. _Crunch. Crrunch. Crrrrrunch_. It was right on top of them. There was a horrible crashing and tearing sound and Yuffie froze up. Cissnei closed her eyes and covered her ears in the deafening storm that tore through Merlin's house. Dozens of tiny objects flew into her face.

And then the pounding kept going, moving on past Merlin's house.

Cissnei slowly opened her eyes to see Yuffie staring, horrified, up at her. Chips of wood lay scattered all over the floor and some were even in her hair. That must have been what hit Cissnei in the face.

"What happened?" Yuffie asked softly. Cissnei could only shake her head, standing up and letting Yuffie climb up to her feet. Leon was rubbing a bruise on his head while Merlin was clutching desperately to the wall was support. And Aerith…Aerith was staring at something that seemed to positively horrify her. Her face was ghost white and she pointed a shaking finger to the other end of the house. Cissnei turned to see whatever it was Aerith had seen.

"Oh my God," she whispered with a suddenly very dry mouth.

Half of Merlin's house was _gone_, crushed into a pile of wood scraps under something positively gigantic. She didn't have to look far to see the culprit, of course; a Behemoth let out a bestial roar and continued its way through the borough with no regard for the surrounding buildings. Its horned head rammed into the walls around the city, threatening to topple them. High up above, flying Heartless of all shapes and sizes screeched and cawed in the skies.

"Heartless," Leon whispered. "The Heartless are attacking the town. It's just like that day we were kids."

Merlin leaned forward and picked up a book that had been spared from the destruction of half of Merlin's belongings, sitting on the very edge of the pile of rubble. "At the very least the Hundred Acre Wood is alright, I suppose." He placed it on the computer's chair and then pointed at the Behemoth. "Well, what are you waiting for? Take that beast down!"

Yuffie shook her head and slapped her cheeks to bring herself out of her funk. "Merlin's right! So we ran as kids, but we fought thousands of Heartless just months ago! What's a couple hundred more?" In moments a large shuriken was in her hands and she spun it around through the hole in the middle. "Let's go!"

"Yuffie!" Aerith called, chasing after the headstrong ninja as she ran out into the open. Cissnei glanced back at Leon, who still looked shaken.

"Leon?" Nothing. "Squall!" That got a reaction. He looked up at her and Cissnei watched his eyes come back into focus. "We can't have you brooding about the past right now. Hop to it!" She pulled out her own shuriken and ran into the borough after Yuffie and Aerith. Leon's footsteps weren't far behind her.

Yuffie had jumped into action immediately, sending her shuriken flying at the Behemoth's head. Her throw missed its horn but did attract its attention. The purple beast turned away from the wall and let out an angry snort before rearing up on its hind legs. Yuffie jumped out of its shadow as the powerful front limbs fell back down and avoided getting crushed underneath, but the impact on the earth sent circular shockwaves out that sent Yuffie and Aerith flying backwards. Aerith saved herself by casting Zero Gravity and stopping her flight, but Yuffie crashed painfully into the wlal of a house and continued through, breaking a hole in the wood as she landed in the living room.

"Yuffie, are you okay?!" Cissnei shouted, dodging the Behemoth's might steps as it turned its focus toward her. Tossing her own shuriken at its horn as a distraction, Cissnei turned away from the gargantuan Heartless and broke into a sprint toward the house that Yuffie had broken into.

"Could be better…" Yuffie said, standing up with some struggling. Splinters covered her exposed skin and there was a nasty gash of blood on the back of her head. Cissnei grabbed the younger girl by her shoulders to support her even as the green heal of a Cura from Aerith flowed over her body. The gash closed up though Yuffie's hair was matted and sticky with blood, and as Yuffie pulled pieces of wood out of her arm she watched that skin heal up as well.

"Can you fight?"

"You kidding? This is nothing for the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

Multiple small explosions and a burst of heat came from behind them, and Cissnei spun around worried that a new Heartless may have come to the Behemoth's aid. Instead, Leon danced around its slow movements with Revolver in one hand and Fire magic flaring to life in his other. He jumped back to dodge the Heartless's attempts to impale him on its horn and then charged forward, slashing the weak spot with Revolver and then jumping away again and casting Firaga.

"I could use some help, you guys!" He shouted over his shoulder.

"We're right behind you!" Cissnei tossed her shuriken at the Behemoth, which curved through the air with Yuffie's short behind it. Yuffie's made a direct hit on the horn but the Heartless flinched and Cissnei's ended up smacking into its shoulder instead. With her weapon now lying on the ground helplessly, Cissnei made a dash to pick it up. She dived underneath the Behemoth's body and rolled out of the way of its stomping feet, grabbing her shuriken mid roll and then tossing it up into the monster's exposed underside.

The Behemoth roared in pain and fury, raising its forelegs for another shockwave attack. Cissnei moved out of the way as quickly as she could, just barely escaping the shockwave's range though the wind it caused blew her forward slightly. While the Heartless crouched low and chose a target to charge, Leon jumped up onto its back left ankle and climbed onto its haunches, then its lower back.

"Be careful, Leon!" Aerith shouted, casting an Aero shield on him to be safe.

"Don't make me laugh." Leon's gunblade Revolver flared to life, its silver blade shifting into a blue one and its hilt shifting into a wing shape—Lion Heart. With his new stronger weapon, Leon ran along the length of the Behemoth's back and swung in a wide arc at its horn. Fireballs were left behind in a circular pattern by the attack, and with a simple pull of the trigger on his weapon the fireballs exploded, damaging the horn more.

As Leon repeated the process again, the Behemoth's horn began to surge with purple electricity. Bolts of similarly-colored lightning rained down from the clouded sky, shocking Leon and coursing through his body. Lion Heart fell from his grasp and landed on the earth as Revolver once again, while Leon tumbled from the Heartless's head and fell into a pile of rubble at the base of the wall. The lightning didn't stop there. Bolts rained down all across the borough, destroying some buildings and igniting others on fire.

"I'll get Squall, you handle the Heartless for now!" Cissnei heard Yuffie shout, though she couldn't see her through the flames and smoke that suddenly covered the area. A burst of wind and a splash of water cleared away some of it, and Cissnei looked behind her to see Merlin jumping about and waving his wand with strange gestures.

"Well don't just stand there!" he shouted. "I'll clear away the fires, you deal with the beast!"

"Right." But with it roaring and moving its head around so much, her shuriken wouldn't be of much help. Cissnei bit her lip and looked around for some kind of weapon – a pipe, a plank of wood, or _something_ – and found a glint of silver metal on the ground. Revolver. While Cissnei had handled shortblades and knives before, a sword was unfamiliar to her. But there wasn't too much choice at the moment.

Of course, the Behemoth had chosen to focus its attacks on her. Tossing her shuriken with all her might, Cissnei managed to lodge one of its red blades into the Heartless's eye. It roared in pain and slammed its head against the wall attempting to shake the offending object free. Cissnei took the opportunity to pick up Leon's gunblade and ran at the Behemoth, jumping up its legs and onto its back. Just in time, too; she heard a clatter of metal as her shuriken fell to the earth.

The Behemoth knew she was up there. Energy surged through its horns and blue-green orbs of magic resembling a Gravity spell fell from the sky all around the borough. Though Cissnei dodged the ones that attacked her on the monster's back, others crushed more of the remaining buildings.

"Damn you!" Cissnei shouted, clutching Revolver tightly in both hands and running up the Behemoth's spine. Leon's gunblade swung true, slicing through the horn cleanly and leaving fireballs behind. Cissnei pulled the trigger but wasn't quite prepared for the force of the explosions, which were powerful despite their small size. She was sent flying off the Behemoth's back…

Only to land on something blue and scaled: a _dragon_ had caught her, and while Cissnei thought it was a Heartless or Nobody no emblem was visible on it. Behind its eyes and long white mustache shone ages of wisdom.

"I will hold it off," the dragon spoke in Merlin's voice. "Strike when the time is right!"

"Merlin?!"

Merlin did not respond, flying high into the sky and forcing Cissnei to clutch at his scales or fall to her death. He swirled around before moving downward, breathing streams of fire on the Behemoth. Of course Cissnei knew Merlin had transformation magic – she had seen him become a fish and a squirrel before – but she had never witnessed something on this scale.

Merlin's assault was combined with a volley of Fira spells and a sailing shuriken from Leon and Yuffie down below. The Behemoth faltered, losing its balance and falling onto its side. This was her chance. Gripping Revolver tightly, Cissnei leaped off of Merlin's back and dived down toward the horn. The instant the blade made contact she pulled the trigger, letting loose an explosion that blew her back into the sky. But a pillow of air caught her and lowered her gently down onto the ground, and Cissnei flashed a thankful smile at Aerith for the Aero spell.

The Behemoth faded away into darkness, but of course without a Keyblade among them it released no heart. Thunder roared up above and Cissnei glanced up as the grey cloud that had been hovering over Hollow Bastion all afternoon grew darker still and finally let their cargo loose. It began to rain.

"Here." Cissnei turned to Leon and handed over his gunblade. "This belongs to you." Leon took it without a word, instead gazing with empty eyes at the utterly ruined borough around them. The rains put out the fires, but before their very eyes one of the buildings that had previously been aflame groaned and collapsed under its own weight. Leon's fists tightened.

"All that hard work," he said softly. "We were so close to remaking Radiant Garden. Now we have to start all over again." Cissnei and Aerith looked away with frowns on their faces, and even the usually cheery Yuffie was silent. Leon, more than anyone else, had been working hard toward restoration. And now all of it was for nothing.

**x-x-x**

The Guardian in front of her burst into flame despite the heavy rain, falling apart into shards of darkness and fading away. Kairi wiped wet hair out of her face and turned to see Donald and Goofy – both as soaking wet as she was – dealing with their own opponents. Donald stood defiantly in front of Scrooge's shop, defending his nephews and uncle from any Heartless or Nobody that dared approach. Goofy, meanwhile, fought in the main square of the marketplace, spinning around and tossing his shield at Assassins, Neoshadows, Dusks, Armored Knights, and more.

Kairi, for her part, was on the stairs leading up to the Gummi hangar. While fighting in the rain was certainly not enjoyable (not that fighting ever was), it did allow her to think much bigger with her Water spells. Throwing her hands out in front of her, Kairi gathered up puddles of rainwater that had formed in the marketplace and brought them around her as orbs of water hovering in the air. When a squad of Soldiers accompanied by a Defender stormed up the stairs, Kairi unleashed the water. A makeshift waterfall poured down the steps, forcing the Heartless to tumble to the bottom. Before they could recover a geyser shut out of the cracks in the paved earth and knocked the Heartless into the air, which was then followed by a wave that pushed them over the edge of the wall where they tumbled into the ravines far, far below.

But more than just Heartless fought in the marketplace today. A duo of Assassins burst out of the earth and caught Kairi by surprise, sending her tumbling down the flight of stairs. Soaked in blood and rainwater, Kairi barely had time to roll out of the way before being impaled on one of the Assassins' blades. Climbing up to her feet and muttering a Cure spell under her breath, Kairi looked for an opportunity to put some distance between her and the Nobodies only to find that she had ended up in the corner of the marketplace without a safe route.

"Fine then. You want me, come and get me." Glaring defiantly at the approaching Assassins, Kairi flexed her hands and felt the beginnings of a Thunder spell dance at her fingertips. The Assassin's flew forward, bladed arms ready to pierce her, but then something slammed into them from behind and knocked them off balance. Kairi watched with surprise as Goofy caught his rebounding shield, which he had thrown just in time.

"Thanks, Goofy!" Taking advantage of the Assassins' momentary stun, Kairi unleashed Thundara, striking the two of them with multiple bolts of lightning. The electricity surged through their bodies, amplified by the water, until they vanished in black and white wisps, but it didn't stop there. The voltage traveled from their bodies onto the soaked ground of the marketplace, traveling through the water and across the entire square. Heartless and Nobody alike were shocked by the electrical surge, the rain on their bodies conducting the spell until they died like the Assassins. While Kairi and Goofy were safe because of the rubber soles of their shoes, Kairi did see Donald jump up in surprise and land on the wooden counter of Scrooge's shop.

"Watch what you're doing!" he shouted angrily, waving his staff around in the air to emphasize his point.

"Sorry, Donald," Kairi called back to him.

After that, a fourth voice cried out in anger and a string of curses. Kairi spun around and stared up at the direction it came from, at the Gummi hangar.

"Cid!" Kairi broke into a run, moving up the stairs, her feet splashing in ever-growing puddles as she ran. Cid wasn't able to fight anymore. And with that cane, it wouldn't be easy to run either. If Heartless or Nobodies had found him, then without help he was doomed. Behind her Kairi heard the awkward pounding of feet that belonged to Goofy; he was following her up to Cid.

The two burst into the hangar to find that, indeed, Cid was surrounded by Soldiers and backed into a corner. Goofy leaped into action immediately, knocking several of the Heartless away with his shield while Kairi ran up to the older man.

"Cid, come on. Let's get you back to Merlin's," she said while grabbing his arm.

"Hell no!" Cid shouted, biting down hard on his cigarette. "I ain't giving up all this work spent on your ship for a few little baby-boy Heartless!" Cid grabbed a strange metal hose hanging from his side, and for the first time Kairi saw he was wearing something on his back. It looked like a strange vacuum cleaner to her eyes. "Goofy, clear the way!"

Of course his warning didn't do much, as the instant he said that he pressed a button on the hose and a stream of fire flew out; that was no vacuum, but a flamethrower. Kairi backed up and shielded her face from the heat while Goofy jumped away in surprise. The Soldiers weren't so lucky, and the fire consumed them until there was nothing left. As the flames died out, Cid reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.

"Now," Cid said while putting a freshly lit cigarette into his mouth. "_Who's_ going back to Merlin's, again? Go on, the Heartless ain't gone yet. I can hold down the fort here, head back outside!"

**x-x-x**

Somewhere in the middle of the fighting, Cloud realized, Sora and Xion had become separated. It was really inevitable, as the slums were a maze of destroyed buildings. To be quite honest he was surprised it hadn't happened while they were out on patrol. He wasn't too worried, of course; the two of them could more than handle themselves.

The Keyblade's chosen ones…they were lucky kids.

Cloud glanced up just in time to see a Neoshadow diving at him with its razor-sharp claws ready to dig into his chest. He held up his sword in a defensive position, ready to parry the blow, but at the last moment the Heartless was knocked aside by a powerful flying kick.

"Cloud, stay on top of things!" Tifa shouted while she slammed a fist into the Neoshadow's face, knocking it back into the wall of what had once been a bakery.

"Sorry." Cloud slashed his sword cleanly through a Sniper Nobody that got a bit too close to him while taking aim at a Guardian. As if in response, a swarm of Dusks popped up around him and closed in. Cloud grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes, swinging the Fusion Sword in circles as he cut down Dusk after Dusk, but more were always appearing. Soon enough Armored Knights joined in, turning their little corner of the battlefield into a three-way with Cloud caught in the middle.

The blade of an Armored Knight pierced a Dusk through the head, skewering it as the Heartless moved forward and struck more. Soon enough it had a shish kabob of Nobodies, but the weight of the empty husks slowed it down. An Assassin slid out of the earth behind the Armored Knight and sliced its head off cleanly, scissoring the Heartless between its two blade-arms. Cloud took the Assassin's momentary distraction as it scanned the battlefield for another target to run it through the gut with his own sword, then spun around and tossed the Nobody's fading corpse into a Red Nocturne that was attempting to attack him from behind.

Tifa, meanwhile, knocked a trio of Wizards away with a roundhouse kick before backhanding a Creeper into a wall. As other Heartless and Nobodies surrounded her Cloud moved to help, but a wall of Defenders appeared before him with their shields raised, cutting Tifa off.

"Fine. Let's go!"

Cloud charged at the Defender nearest to him, swerving out of the way as it swung its heavy shield offensively and then slicing right through its arm when he had an opening. The dog-face shield fell lifelessly to the ground, allowing Cloud to run his blade through the unprotected Heartless's throat. Two more Defenders approached Cloud from behind and he pulled apart the Fusion Sword, dual wielding smaller blades and deflecting the latest onslaught.

Unfortunately for Cloud, although his divided swords were quicker they didn't hit as hard as the combined form did. The swords pierced helplessly against the shields, so Cloud moved around to attack from behind. However, a third Defender approached from Cloud's blind spot and shoved him onto the ground, knocking him through a building wall. Cloud landed in a puddle on the floor with a splash and his two swords fell some yards away.

"Damn…" Cloud grumbled, pushing himself up to his knees and looking for his swords. A Defender roared and Cloud whirled around with his arms crossed in front of him, but an attack never came. A loud _shing_ broke through the torrent of rain as a long, thin sword sliced through every Defender in the area. One slice and they were all gone. Muttering thanks to his savior, Cloud climbed to his feet and moved to gather up his weapons. Recombining them into the single Fusion Sword, he looked around for Tifa. She must have still been outside.

"How rude; I save him and he doesn't say a word." The voice of Cloud's savior was baritone and stoic, and it made Cloud freeze mid-step. A chill ran up his spine. "Do you always ignore people, Cloud? No wonder you don't have any friends."

"Sephiroth," Cloud growled, turning around and pointing his sword at the other man's smug face. He was a surprisingly good-looking man, with long silver hair flowing down his back and glowing blue-green eyes that matched Cloud's. A long black coat was open to expose his chest, and from his right shoulder grew a large wing covered in blue-black feathers. Sephiroth shifted his long sword, Masamune, behind him as he spoke.

"I heard you calling my name earlier. Have you been looking for me?"

Cloud grit his teeth. He hadn't, but this was an opportunity he wasn't about to pass up. "Once I get rid of you, the darkness will go away."

"Can you do it? That darkness comes from your own dark memories." Sephiroth chuckled, drawing Masamune and pointing it forward, parallel to the Fusion Sword. Its razor-sharp blade gently caressed Cloud's neck. "Do you think you can erase your past?"

Cloud shut his eyes, shivering at his suppressed memories. Weeks spent sitting in a dirty cell, lying on an operating table as a man with bright green eyes and long blond hair toiled over him. Horrible, unimaginable _pain_…and then several more weeks where he could barely lift a finger and had to be cared for live some pathetic _infant_.

"Shut up!"

Sephiroth smirked. "Face it—you turn your back on the present and live in the past. Because the light of the present is too much!"

"You don't know me!" Cloud swung his sword for emphasis, but Sephiroth simply took a step back to avoid the attack.

"I know. Because...I am you." There was that awful, smug smirk again. Sephiroth had been born that day beneath the castle, the same day where Cloud's fuzzy memories began. He could barely remember anything between when he saw the silver-haired teenager form from his own darkness and when Tifa had found him crying over that sword in the slums.

He could barely remember it, but he could remember some.

"_Boy oh boy, the price of freedom is steep."_

"_We're friends…right?"_

_"You'll be…my living legacy."_

"I told you to _shut up!_" Cloud roared, charging forward and swinging at Sephiroth will all his strength. Sephiroth parried the blow easily and then knelt down, striking upwards with the flat of his blade and sending Cloud flying through the ceiling, onto the second floor. Sephiroth jumped up after him and then fell down, attempting to skewer Cloud from above, but Cloud rolled out of the way. Sephiroth landed with a smile, extending his arms.

"I'm a part of you, am I? Then join me in this eternal nightmare untarnished by light."

Cloud jumped forward and Sephiroth followed, both oversized swords locking together in the middle of the empty second floor. Cloud pulled away first, leaping backwards and then charging forward again, but Sephiroth once again parried that blow. Cloud used his momentum to somersault over Sephiroth, landing behind and swinging his sword out, but Sephiroth extended his wing and flew out of Cloud's reach.

Cloud was not deterred. He followed Sephiroth into the air, even if he couldn't fly, and swung wildly at his hated foe. Though he succeeded in clipping some of his stupid silver hair, Masamune successfully deflected every swing before it reached Sephiroth's body. Cloud backflipped away, using Masamune as a springboard, and slammed his feet against the wall. From there he pushed forward, bringing the Fusion Sword down on Sephiroth with an overhead swing. Sephiroth wasn't at an angle to intercept.

But he didn't need to. The man faded away, vanishing in a flurry of blue feathers and purple energy. Cloud landed on the ground and looked up to see Sephiroth reappear with his sword pointed downward, ready to pierce Cloud from above. The attack tore at Cloud's clothing and cut a clean line of red blood down in his back, but missed for the most part. With both on the same level once again, Cloud ran at Sephiroth and swung his sword out for another go. He finally got the advantage. Through a combination of the right angle and force, Cloud broke through Sephiroth's defenses and knocked him into the air.

"Sephiroth!" He jumped up above the man in black and swung his sword down. "It ends here." Sephiroth was sent flying, crashing through the floor and landing on the ground level. "Go back to sleep." Cloud jumped down after Sephiroth with the tip of his sword pointed at him, following Sephiroth's own favored method of attack and dropping from above. However, at the last possible instant Sephiroth spun in the air, landing on his feet some distance away from Cloud's targeted location.

"Accept it!" Sephiroth shouted, swinging Masamune in a wide arc. Cloud was sent flying into the far wall as razor winds called up by Sephiroth's attack assaulted him. "I am the one who guides you—forever." Cloud landed on his side on the floor, his fingers still holding onto the hilt of the Fusion Sword, albeit limply. Sephiroth walked over to him with that smug smile on his face.

"If it's despair you want, then I shall provide."

"What I want most," Cloud said, glaring up at Sephiroth and climbing to his feet, "I'll find myself!"

Cloud swung at Sephiroth, who once again simply jumped away from the attack. Breaking off one of the smaller blades in his Fusion Sword, Cloud tossed it like a dagger at Sephiroth. It only tore at his coat, but its only intention was to serve as a distraction. While Sephiroth glanced down at the hole it had left, Cloud broke off a larger blade and came down on Sephiroth with two swords, cross-slashing him and sending him flying into a wall.

"You're nothing but a puppet." Sephiroth pressed the soles of his feet against the wall and rebounded off of it, flying straight at Cloud. He hit Cloud hard with Masamune—not the blade, but the hilt. Cloud landed in a corner in a puddle, struggling to get up. But Sephiroth stomped down on his wrist, digging his heel into the floorboards. Cloud cried in pain. Sephiroth smirked again before stepping back and kicking Cloud in the gut.

"I'm done with you for today." Sephiroth turned away and made his way to the exit of the dark building. "By the way, you should be careful of what you touch in the slums. Rainwater can't make it inside closed spaces, Cloud."

"What are you-" Cloud heaved over, gripping his gut as his stomach churned. He coughed violently, drops of liquid falling from his mouth. Cloud's eyes widened. It wasn't blood; blood would have been bad enough already. This liquid was black. Cloud glanced down at his surroundings with frantic breaths.

It wasn't water he had landed in.

**x-x-x**

"Xion, behind you!"

Xion turned around just in time to see a Dragoon diving at her with its lanced mere feet from running through her neck. Seconds before impact, a silver figure flew in from out of nowhere and caught the Dragoon's weapon between its twin swords, before moving its arms suddenly upwards and knocking the lance out of the draconic Nobody's hands.

"Th-Thank you," Xion said with surprise to the Samurai, the sole remaining Samurai that had come to save her. It silently glanced over its shoulder before driving its right sword through the Dragoon's torso and cutting its head of with the left one.

"You okay, Xion?" Sora asked, running up to her.

"I could be better."

After seeing the Heartless and Nobodies attacking Hollow Bastion, Xion and Sora had been attacked from behind by a squad of Shadows and Soldiers. Though no real threat, the attack did manage to knock them off their footholds on the hill of rubble and tumble down into a much larger battlefield, separated from Cloud and Tifa. Since then they had fought their way through the slums, trying to find their way back to the borough and Merlin's house. Xion thought they had left the slums already, but at the moment pretty much everything looked like it: filthy, piles of stone and wood everywhere, and collapsed buildings, some of which were on fire.

They stood now in and area Xion thought she recognized; she was pretty sure she had seen it from a distance at the marketplace. Of course it was hard to tell, as all the houses had largely been destroyed. The neighborhood was right up against the large wall that had been constructed since her last visit to Hollow Bastion, which meant the people who lived there were rather limited in the direction they could flee.

"Goocha! Ah-chooga moopa!"

Which is why Xion had used the charm around her neck and summoned Stitch. While she and Sora fought the Heartless and Nobodies that were causing so much chaos, Stitch worked to blow a hole in the wall so the people could escape. Judging by his shouting now, the hole was complete. Xion spared a moment from the battle to glance behind her, where Stitch was waving people through to safety. For whatever reason, the Heartless weren't attacking outside the wall. They were only interested in the town.

"He sure catches on to things quick," Sora said beside her.

"Yeah, I was worried that he would be too happy to see me to realize what was going on. But he got to work fast."

Xion's Keyblade sliced cleanly through an approaching Wizard, and next to her Sora cast Fira on a trio of Creepers. The Samurai's own hands were full with swarms of Shadows which leaped at it more quickly than they fell, so as Xion and Sora found themselves surrounded on all sides by Zip Slashers and Bolt Towers, a blue ball of claws and fur crashed down between the two Keybearers.

"Detaka!" Stitch roared at the nearest Zip Slasher, extending his extra arms and revealing his antennae and spines for a tiny yet threatening appearance. The Zip Slasher fell for the taunt, charging at Stitch with its blades surging with power. Stitch cackled and leaped up as the Zip Slasher approached him, grabbing on to one of its arms and hanging there as the Heartless swung at what was now empty space. A second Zip Slasher made its way to the pair of them and attempted to run Stitch through on its sword, but the little alien jumped away at the last second and the Zip Slasher impaled its companion instead.

The other Zip Slashers closed in on Xion and Sora while Stitch too his fight to a squad of Snipers. The two of them stood back to back, Keyblades outstretched, and Xion began channeling wind through hers. Behind her there was an explosion of heat as Sora's became enveloped by flame. The two of them tossed their weapons, Strike Raid boosted by the magical coating. After wind and flame tore through the Zip Slashers, their Keyblades came together and formed a fiery tornado that sucked up any Heartless left behind.

"Xion!"

"I got it!"

Xion sprinted past the few remaining Zip Slashers and gabbed both Keyblades in her hands, then spun on her heal and struck the Heartless stragglers through their chests. A Berserker jumped down from above, its heavy hammer poised to flatten Xion like a pancake, but the Samurai leaped into action and severed its head with a cross-slash.

"Thanks," Xion said to the silent Nobody. It nodded slightly and turned around, keeping an eye out for any more enemies to approach its 'Mistress XIV.' "Sora!" Xion tossed the Kingdom Key back to its rightful owner.

Sora caught his Keyblade just in time to cut a Dusk that Stitch had tossed toward him in half. As the Nobody faded away he was attacked by another Berserker, but Sora moved forward quickly, striking it in rapid succession and then leaning back with his Keyblade pointed forward. Orbs of light formed in a ring and Sora flicked his Keyblade slightly, sending them forward. Ragnarok's rays of light pierced through the Berserker and rained down all over the battlefield, destroying what few Heartless and Nobodies remained. Stitch cackled happily and clapped his hands even as he began to fade away, the time on Xion's summon charm used up.

"Bye-bye!" Stitch called, waving his four hands with a smile on his face. He vanished, leaving Xion, Sora, and the Samurai standing in the rainy neighborhood's remains.

"Thank you for coming when you did," Xion said to the Samurai, placing a hand on its head. "You're always there when I need it."

"What caused this, do you think?" Sora asked. Xion turned away from the Samurai as it vanished, facing her friend instead. "I mean, the Heartless had all left Hollow Bastion before suddenly swarming all over," Sora continued. "That's not their normal behavior."

"Maleficent, probably." Xion wiped some wet hair from in front of her eyes, though it fell back into place anyway. "Though I have no idea why. I mean, I don't think she-" Xion paused, having caught sight of something up on the wall.

"What is it?"

"Who's there?" Xion called out. It looked humanoid, and big; certainly it could be a Large Body, but she doubted it was a Heartless at all. And it wasn't white, so it wasn't a Nobody. "I know you're there. Come out. Don't be afraid."

"I am not afraid," came the chilling reply. Xion immediately dropped into a battle position, and Sora did behind her. They both knew that voice well. Speak of the devil, Maleficent walked out of the shadows, standing atop the wall with her familiar smile on her lips. Next to her was Pete, who must have been the large person that Xion saw.

"Maleficent, were you behind this attack?!" Sora shouted up at her.

"Indeed I was. Though to be honest, I never expected to see you children here while it was underway." Her smile turned into a sneer. "Were you not searching for Riku? Why stop here?"

"That's none of your business," Xion shot back at her.

Pete laughed. "Hey, let's not go tossin' words at each other! I'm itchin' for a fight, so get ready to tussle with the mighty Pete!" He stepped forward, flexing his arms, but Maleficent held a delicate hand in front of his chest and kept him from jumping down. She glanced up at the dark sky and Xion heard a faint cawing sound, like something from a bird. Maleficent's grin returned.

"It's been a wonderful visit, but I'm afraid our time is up." She took a single step backwards and green flames begin to snake their way up her body, licking at her cape. "But I am afraid I have achieved everything I wanted to in this visit. Hollow Bastion is in ruins, and more importantly I have the object I came for."

"We do?" Pete asked, scratching his head. Maleficent didn't do him the honor of answering his question, vanishing into green flames. Pete nervously glanced down at Sora and Xion before opening a corridor behind him running away.

"Damn it," Xion hissed, stabbing her Keyblade into the earth. "What could they have been after, do you think?"

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Sora dismissed his Keyblade. "Come on, let's get back to the others. I'm sure they're back at Merlin's."

"…Yeah. Okay."

**x-x-x**

Pete emerged from his corridor of darkness to find Maleficent standing in the room that Organization XIII had once called the Addled Impasse. Its large windows were long since shattered, giving a view of the endless churning void below where the Dark City had once been. Large black vines covered in thorns snaked their way along the walls, courtesy of Maleficent's sharp eye for interior decorating. And the witch herself stood on the edge of the chamber, dangerously close to falling off into the abyss. Her eyes were locked on the heart-shaped moon hanging above, the one with a massive hole blown through the middle. Pete coughed and Maleficent turned her head ever so slightly, acknowledging his presence.

"Now, uh, Maleficent," Pete began slowly. "I ain't no strategizer, but surely if we were after somethin' in the castle we shouldn't have been attackin' the town?"

"It's called a 'distraction', you idiot." Maleficent shook her head and turned to face her bumbling lackey. "Once my Heartless caught the Nobodies' attention and drew them out, I had an agent infiltrate the castle."

Pete frowned and scratched his head. "…Who besides me is workin' for ya?" He flinched. "I mean, not that someone wouldn't! But uh, I've only ever seen me 'round here."

Maleficent's lips turned upwards in a sly, knowing smile. "You've met him plenty of times already."

"I-I have?"

"Indeed. In fact, here he comes now."

A bird's caw called out from the endless void that the Castle That Never Was sat in. Pete squinted into the darkness, searching for the source, before finally making out a raven flying toward them. The raven's feathers were pitch black, like the skin of a Shadow. Pete only noticed him because of the yellow beak and talons.

"Diablo?" Pete asked as the raven flew in through the broken window and settled on the floor. However, his skepticism fell to the wayside and his jaw dropped open when Diablo began to _change_. Smoke lifted from the bird's body and its form contorted, growing larger and larger as the smoke began to consume its form. When he reached a height just shorter than Maleficent the smoke faded away, revealing a deathly pale man with black hair and scars across his face and exposed chest. The man who had taken Diablo's place bowed to Maleficent ever so slightly before reaching into his shirt and pulling out a book with stiff, yellowing pages.

"As you commanded," he said while handing it over to Maleficent. "From Cid Lufaine of Radiant Garden, written a century ago at the very least. He calls it Project Manikin. It's everything you wanted and more."

"Thank you, Diablo," Maleficent said calmly. "You are as loyal as always."

Diablo smiled and bowed once more before turning left and making his way out of the Addled Impasse. He stopped for a moment next to the completely dumbfounded Pete.

"This is where things get serious," he whispered.

**x-x-x**

"Oh my God," Xion whispered as they rounded the corner to into the borough. She felt the blood drain from her face. Nearly every building lay in ruins, and Merlin's house in particular had the left half smashed into pieces. The Restoration Committee, as well as Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, all sat outside while speaking in hushed tones. The rain still hadn't let up.

"What happened here?" Sora asked as he and Xion sprinted the rest of the way to Merlin's house.

"Sora!" Kairi cried, jumping up and wrapping her arms around him. "I was so worried. You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine," Sora said, replying to Kairi's hug with one of his own. "What about you? Did you get caught up in this?"

Kairi pulled away and shook her head. "Donald, Goofy, and I were up in the marketplace." Sora's face softened with relief and he sat down with Kairi next to him.

Xion, for her part, noticed a certain lack of something. While Cissnei, Merlin, and Cid went over the damages and Tifa and Aerith passed around blankets and hot drinks to everyone – including refugee citizens whose homes had been destroyed – someone was missing.

"Where's Leon?"

"Brooding," Cloud replied. He took the cup of hot chocolate that Tifa handed him, but his movements were slow and he didn't look up at her. He didn't drink it either, preferring to stare into the steaming liquid. What was up with him?

"Out of all of us, Leon's taking the destruction the hardest." Yuffie sat on the ground, her back against the wall and her knees hugged tightly to her chest. "He was always the one leading things, you know? We all wanted to restore our home but for him it was pretty much all he thought about."

"Aye, the poor lad," Scrooge said softly.

"Are you talking about me?" Leon asked. He walked in from the direction of the bailey, which still stood proud against the destruction. But he looked like he had seen better times, with his jacket hanging loosely from his frame and his wet hair matted against his face. His gunblade was limp in his hands. "The Heartless are gone and the Nobodies have retreated to the castle. Not a single one is left." Leon slammed a fist into the wall of Merlin's house, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes. "I couldn't do _anything_."

Xion bit her lip and glanced at Sora, who nodded.

"Leon, there's something we need to tell you." Leon looked up at Xion, raising a questioning eyebrow. It was so weird, so heartbreaking, not to see him calm and collected like usual. Xion swallowed. "This wasn't just some freak attack. Maleficent was behind it."

"What did she want?" Leon didn't seem surprised by the news. It wasn't really much of a shock. "Was it not enough that she took my home away from me when I was younger? Did she just want to rub salt in the wounds?"

"Calm down, Leon," Aerith said. Leon grumbled in reply.

"We don't know what she wanted," Sora said. "But whatever it was, she got it."

"Well them, what are you five waiting for?" Xion, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi all looked up at Leon with confusion. "You know where Maleficent's based, right? The Organization's old castle? Get out there and show her she can't mess with us!"

"It isn't that simple…" Donald said, staring down at his hands. "You saw how many Heartless she commands. We can't fight that with just five people."

"What about Riku?" Tifa asked. "That's the friend you're looking for, right? Could Riku help?"

"That's the plan," Goofy said. He notably lacked any of his usual cheer.

"He wouldn't be a game changer, but every little bit helps." Xion sighed. "And at the very least he can open corridors of darkness."

"Then get going," Leon snapped angrily—surprisingly out of character for him. "Find Riku, go to the Castle That Never Was, and make Maleficent pay."

"You got it," Sora said softly. "Just…don't let this consume you, Leon. Okay? We'll make things right."

Leon was silent in reply.

* * *

_Diablo's human form… I am extremely wary of the Maleficent film coming up because of conflicts with Disney's Sleeping Beauty: the three Good Fairies are supposed to be "superficial and neglectful", Maleficent befriends Aurora instead of searching sixteen years for her, and some other changes. But whatever my final opinion on the movie ends up being once it comes out, I like the idea of Diablo being a shape-shifter and I also liked the look of those plant monsters Maleficent created in the trailers. We'll see how much of the film besides Diablo's shifting ends up entering the story, but at the very least I expect the plant monsters will at some point._


End file.
